Goa pollution board recommends study to check carrying capacity of beaches

PANAJI: The Goa State Pollution Control Board ( GSPCB) has recommended that a study should be conducted to determine the carrying capacity of state's shoreline in order to check the rise in activities at the beaches.

GSPCB in a meeting here yesterday resolved that the National Institute of Oceanography ( NIO) will be requested to conduct the carrying capacity study of beaches to know the exact number of shacks that can be allowed on each of the stretch.

"The study will ascertain as to how many shacks can be allowed from the point of sewerage management and solid waste management," GSPCB chairman, Jose Manuel Noronha, told reporters after the meeting.

He said there are petitions filed with the National Green Tribunal questioning the overcrowding of shacks in certain beach stretches, thereby damaging the sand dunes and creating environmental hazards.

The study will be conducted across the entire 105-km long stretch with special focus on the areas which are major tourist attractions, he said.

The Board also recommended that the state environment ministry should conduct the carrying capacity study of rivers in the state, so that the future development across the inland waterways can be decided.

"The carrying capacity of all the rivers should be studied. The NIO has already conducted the baseline study which can be considered while making a detailed one," Noronha said.

He said state environment ministry might have Expression of Interest (EIA) inviting proposals from the agencies to conduct the study.

"Before allowing any major projects in the state's rivers, we will have to see the pollution impact on it. Without any data, we will not be able to ascertain whether the rivers have reached stagnation limit or not," he said.