MARGAO: Unsightly tar balls marred the beauty of part of the pearly white, palm-fringed South Goa coastline on Monday afternoon, coating the stretch from Sernabatim to Betalbatim with a thick layer of oily, gooey layer.

Cleaning operations were on with the tourism department team sent to the affected beaches at around 7.15 p.m.

When director of tourism, Mr Swapnil Naik was contacted, he said that this was not a serious matter.

"It is a regular phenomenon that happens in the monsoon. There is no need to bring in the Coast Guard. Our beach management people informed us about it and they will be restoring the beaches," Mr Naik added.

At around 9.15 p.m., the South Goa Collector, Mr G P Naik said that he had not received any official intimation about this and he had "learnt about this only through the media."

He went on to add that "normally the beach management people or the tourism department informs me about such incidents. (But) I have not received any intimation from them."

However, the irony is that once tar balls hit the beaches, they may be picked up by hand or by shovels making it imperative that the culprit – read oil slick – is contained before it reaches the beach. Sources say that tar balls along the coast arise whenever an oil slick occurs in the vicinity of the coastline with one common cause for such a slick was dumping of oil overboard by a passing ship in high seas.

However, another school of thought also says that the oil could be deposited on the sea bed and gets agitated and comes up whenever the currents shift – normally when the monsoon is about to hit or it is about to end.