Goa CM Pramod Sawant assures dip in coal imports in years ahead

Under pressure from Opposition and civil society groups over fears of increased coal imports into the state for the purpose of fuelling steel mills in Karnataka's Bellary district, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, as well as top South Western Railway officials on Wednesday, maintained that the quantum of coal imports and transportation through would, in fact, dip in the coming years.

On Wednesday, a day after Goa's top Congress protested outside the SWR zonal headquarters in Hubbali, in Karnataka, the additional general manager of the railway division also denied reports of an increase in coal transportation on its rail tracks and said that the ongoing track doubling project had more to do with enhancing passenger, logistics and military transport capabilities in the sector.

"Coal has multiple uses. The primary requirement of coal has been for power only. Our traffic (coal transportation) pattern has been going down. The requirement of coal will not increase in the future," Mishra told a virtual press conference in Panaji.

"The permission to transport coal is granted by the state government's pollution control board. There is a ceiling in force. We cannot breach the ceiling which has been set for coal transportation," Mishra also said.

The rail track doubling project from Castle Rock railway station in Karnataka to the Tinai ghat station in Goa is one of the three projects being opposed by Opposition parties and civil society groups, claiming the projects would lead to the axing of nearly 50,000 trees in the reserved forests in and around Mollem village in South Goa.

The opposition to the projects also stems from the belief, that the doubling tracking of railway tracks and expansion of the National Highway 4 would lead to increased transportation of coal imported to the Mormugao Port Trust in South Goa to steel mills in Karnataka's Bellary region.

The entire track doubling project stretches over a tract of 342 km out of which a 90 kms stretch is located in Goa. Out of the 90 km stretch, the SWR has managed to complete double tracking along only 7 km, in wake of the prolonged protests, which have also been supported by some BJP MLAs, including former Environment Minister Alina Saldanha.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who was addressing the media on Wednesday after his two-day visit to Delhi, where he met Union Ministers for Railway and Union MoS Shipping Piyush Goyal and Mansukh Mandviya respectively, also denied any possibility of an increase in coal imports and transportation in Goa.

"Coal is being imported to Goa since 1947. The maximum coal imported was in 2017 around 14 million tons. As the export of iron ore decreased, coal handling had been increased by the Goa port," the Chief Minister said, adding that the Opposition was trying to paint the wrong picture against the state government ahead of the 2022 polls.

Sawant also said that efforts were on to decrease coal imports at Goa's major port to 8 million tons. "Last year coal imports at Mormugao Port Trust stood at 9-10 million tons. We are trying to bring it down to 8 million tons," Sawant said.