Notice issued to MPT for coal pollution
PTI, PANAJI | 30 August 2012 16:54 IST
Coal handling operations at the Vasco Port have been found to be polluting the town, forcing the pollution control board authorities to issue a show cause notice to the port trust.
In the notice to Mormugao Port Trust (MPT), the Goa State Pollution Control Board has warned that the consent given to operate under the Air and Water Pollution Control Acts would be revoked if the port authorities do not control pollution “that has exceeded the prescribed levels” in Vasco town, situated 40 km from Panaji.
The coal is handled at MPT’s berth number 10 and 11, which has been causing severe air pollution in Vasco town, resulting in environmental degradation and has had an adverse impact on the health of the local residents, the notice said.
The Board, which conducted an inspection of the port twice during the recent past, has observed that “due to inadequate pollution control measures being implemented by the port authorities, the concentration levels of particles are found exceeding the permissible limits on various occasions during the course of ambient air quality monitoring”.
The port has also not installed a continuous ambient air quality monitoring station in line with the directives of the Central Pollution Control Board, till date, GPSCB member secretary Lavinsons Martin said.
The port management officials have now been summoned on November 11, 2012, along with all relevant documents and data pertaining to the amount of coal and dusty cargo being handled by the port.
