Goa beaches faces serious problem

Although remnants of beach shacks that have now been dismantled due to the monsoons, and plastic and other non-biodegradable wastes are the litter that is visible on the beaches, this new occurrence of this affluent has now become a matter of serious concern for the authorities. An assistant director of tourism speaking to The Indian Express

on condition of anonymity admitted the government8217;s concern over the development and regretted that it has not been able to achieve much towards eradicating this menace.

The affluent sample that is normally not erasable as experienced by this correspondent has been sent by the state government to the National Institute of Oceanography for analysis in the past.

The tourism department of the state government however officially maintains that the washing ashore of such thick affluent is an international phenomena and was sent back to the state government with this comment by the NIO. The state then petitioned the Coast Guard which has learnt to have taken cognizance of the complaint.

Although the NIO has not analytically concluded anything this year as far as the state queries go, Dr N M Anand, NIO scientist, maintains that this occurrence is tarball formation that is a regular feature during monsoons. Dr Anand maintains that this occurrence has been going on regularly for the last thirty years and hence can be categorised as a natural phenomena. But regular visitors to the beaches mainly in south Goa observe that this is a year-round phenomena.

Observers opine that the thick affluent may be a result of daily happenings in international waters where oil transfers from oil vessels can lead to minor slicks whose combined effect is visualised in the form of this affluent washed ashore.

However, director of Science and Technology and Environment Dept Dr N P S Varde strongly opined that fishing trawlers and Marmagoa Port Trust MPT were the sole cause of this problem. Dr Varde believes that oil spills from trawlers is a regular occurrence and the MPT has hitherto not been able to plausibly exibit any reasonable oil spill control mechanism which should have normally been mandatory for a busy port like the MPT. However, both Dr Varde and Dr Anand were unanimous in expressing regret to control the fishing trawler business specially in south Goa.

The trawler owner lobby which comprises powerful south Goa politicians 8212; Churchill Alemao and others is known to be openly violating accepted conventions of fishing activity flagrantly in south Goa. As compared to north Goa where trawlers rarely come near the shores, the famous south Goan beach of Colva has almost assumed the image of a fishing port with trawlers almost so regularly frequenting the shores that even tourists who are venturing for the occasional swim are seriously disturbed.

The pollution that is caused due to cleaning operations of trawlers and other fallouts of fishing activity seems to have not attracted the attention of the state pollution control board. quot;It is the pollution control board which is supposed to take action in this regard but are not able to do so may be because of physical limitationsquot; Dr. Varde said. In May this year five-star hotel managements in south Goa complained to local authorities regarding this problem.

The trawler business having successfully percolated the higher echelons of the state politics makes complaints about trawler business muted. All the same, all concerned 8212; the government, the tourism industry and the locals who thrive on tourism should no longer turn a Nelson8217;s eye to this serious problem of tarball formation or affluent since it may have many future repercussions with raindrop tourism being the latest casualty.