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 kms 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 adverse impact on the health of the local residents, the notice said.
The Board, which conducted 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, as per the directives of 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.
