Goa HC issues notices on PIL for closure of coal operations at Mormugao port

The Bombay High Court has issued notices to the state government, the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) and three private firms on a PIL seeking an order for closure of coal operations at the port in Vasco city.

The notices were issued yesterday by the high court's Goa bench, comprising Justices Nitin Jamdar and Prithviraj Chavan.

The bench has fixed the next date of hearing as August 20.

The PIL was filed by NGO Goa Foundation and five others last week.

It stated that the handling of "dirty cargo" of coal at the port in Vasco is leading to permanent impairment of health of fellow citizens and continuously affecting the right to clean and planned environment guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

"The respondents -- the MPT, importers of the coal South West Port Limited, Adani Mormugao Port Terminal Private Limited and Vedanta--- will have to submit their replies to the notice before August 20," advocate Claud Alvares, representing the NGO, said today.

The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), the Town and Country Planning Department, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) are the other respondents.

Besides the NGO, the petitioners include an 18-year-old law student from Vasco Sherwyn Corey, citizens of Vasco and the fishing community represented by the Old Cross Fishing Canoe Owners Co-op Society Ltd.