Panaji:
As Goa's beaches turn black this evening due to a suspected oil spill off the coast here, the state's disaster management authorities appear ill-equipped to deal with any ecological disaster.
While South Goa District Collector G P Naik said he had no information about any oil slick, Tourism Department said it had sent teams to take stock of the situation.
Beaches like Calangute, Siquerim, Candolim in North Goa and Colva, Betalbhatim and Sernabhatim in the South were covered with black tar balls, eyewitnesses said.
"Entire South Goa beaches are covered with black oil which has been washed ashore," a source said.
"I don't know anything like this," Naik said.
Goa's disaster management officials will be attending a conference tomorrow to discuss their "disaster response system". G K Sinha, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority, will be attending the meet.
Addressing a press conference in the evening, Chief Secretary Sanjiv Srivastava admitted that Goa does not have a response mechanism in place to deal with disasters.
Asked if the government had an action plan to remove ill-fated vessel `River Princess', precariously grounded off Candolim beach, Srivastava replied in negative. He said the state is getting ready to see how the government apparatus reacts when a calamity strikes.
The State administration had conducted mock drills to check response time in case of a disaster.
While South Goa District Collector G P Naik said he had no information about any oil slick, Tourism Department said it had sent teams to take stock of the situation.
Beaches like Calangute, Siquerim, Candolim in North Goa and Colva, Betalbhatim and Sernabhatim in the South were covered with black tar balls, eyewitnesses said.
"Entire South Goa beaches are covered with black oil which has been washed ashore," a source said.
"I don't know anything like this," Naik said.
Goa's disaster management officials will be attending a conference tomorrow to discuss their "disaster response system". G K Sinha, a member of the National Disaster Management Authority, will be attending the meet.
Addressing a press conference in the evening, Chief Secretary Sanjiv Srivastava admitted that Goa does not have a response mechanism in place to deal with disasters.
Asked if the government had an action plan to remove ill-fated vessel `River Princess', precariously grounded off Candolim beach, Srivastava replied in negative. He said the state is getting ready to see how the government apparatus reacts when a calamity strikes.
The State administration had conducted mock drills to check response time in case of a disaster.
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