VASCO: The Mormugao Port Trust has accused Lotus Environments, the agency appointed by  the government,  for utter rubbish in preparing the presentation with the assigned and prejudiced mandate of finding faults with the infrastructure projects of MPT

and thereby also has accused the Goa government of not discussing the issue pertaining to the factual details and writings presented before the ministry of environment of forest and central ministries into the charges made by the Lotus Environments.
Taking serious concern over the allegations made by the Lotus Environments, a top official of MPT  disclosed that they have written a letter to the chairman of expert appraisal committee on CRZ, infrastructure and miscellaneous projects, new construction and industrial estate projects, former regional director of United Nations Environment Programme for Asia Pacific and also to the ministry of environment and forest over the allegations made by the Lotus Environments and having no consultation, feedback and discussions with the MPT before coming out with their findings.
“As informed to the expert appraisal committee, Lotus Environments did not consult or discuss any matter with MPT before finalising their report and the presentation made by them was based on presumptions and surmises relate to the extent of land areas needed for MPT projects, alleging adverse impact on the pristine beaches of Goa due to MPT projects, alleged environmental degradation by MPT, anticipated major demographic changes due to MPT projects, likelihood of civil unrest caused by MPT,” stated the top official.
He has maintained that all these allegations are factually incorrect, baseless, false and malicious. It is obvious that Lotus Environments has prepared the presentation with the assigned and prejudged mandate of finding faults with the infrastructure projects of MPT. It was also maintained that the Lotus Environments has drawn the conclusion without any basis and interference and findings were utter rubbish.
“The Lotus Environment has refused to give a soft copy of their presentation and the government of Goa, has yet not responded to our repeated request over the Lotus Environments,” added the top MPT official.
The official has raised surprise over the Goa government for not finding it pertinent or appropriate to discuss with or consult the MPT, on the conclusions/inferences by Lotus Environment, before writing to the central government.
He told that a team of state government officials, headed by Mr Nasser Munji, member of Goa Planning Board and the Chairman of the Goa Core Infrastructure Group, visited Mormugao Port on January 18, 2010 and made an extensive tour and witnessed the presentation ‘Delivering Prosperity to the State of Goa’, as well as held discussions. The Goa government officials later visited all the existing and proposed facilities of MPT where they left the MPT with the assurance that the Goa government would like to join hands with the MPT for some projects.
Some of the essential highlights of the visit and response of the government officials were  that there would be no destruction of the fragile ecology and biodiversity due to the forthcoming projects of the MPT; there is no displacement of population or adverse impact on the demography of Goa due to MPT projects; there is no pollution due to the existing port projects, and there will be no pollution due to the future expansion projects; there has been no destruction of beaches of Goa and tourist spots due to MPT, nor will there be in future and there will be no adverse impact on the livelihood of traditional fishermen -- on the contrary, they will have new world-class facilities.
The allegations about the civil unrest are based on instigation by vested interests of a very small group of people and in fact, the threat of civil unrest is often attempted against the MPT with the view of pressurising.
The Goa government officials also mentioned about the vital four-lane port connectivity road is being obstructed by the Goa government due to irrational reasons, despite the demand by trade and industry for its completion.
It was stated that the MPT is rehabilitating all the encroachers entirely at port cost, including the cost of land. The rehabilitation and relocation of slums on MPT land and fishing jetty are being resisted by groups interested in continuing their illegal activities.
Despite informing all the factual data and counter presentation towards allegations made by the Lotus Environments to the EAC and ministry of environment and forest, the MPT has placed on record the response before the Planning Commission, the Prime Minister Office, the ministries of commerce, shipping and finance, the Goa Governor as well as individuals, both in Goa and other parts of India.
The top port official has clarified that the MPT is committed to balancing the needs of the environment, society and economy and aims for sustainable and inclusive development as depicted in slide presentation over sustainable development.
The MPT has clarified that there is no damage at all to the ecology of the state of Goa, neither is there any destruction of ecologically fragile areas, due to the current port operations, nor will have any such damage/destruction take place due to the future port expansion.
The Union Minister for Environment, Mr Jairam Ramesh has been requested that the MPT may be allowed to make a presentation before the ministry of environment and forests in presence of Lotus Environments and the Goa government to set the record straight.