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Coal supplied to power firms in public interest, says Mumbai Port

In response to a Bombay High Court petition over the immense pollution caused by toxic mountains of over one lakh metric tonnes of coal lying on Mumbai Port Trust (MbPT) land, the port trust says its handling of coal is in the "larger interest of the public as it feeds some of Maharashtra's largest electricity generators".

If it were prevented from handling coal, the port trust says Maharashtra's power sector would suffer. The petitioners have trashed MbPT's arguments, saying environmental pollution resulting from the shoddy handling of coal can't be justified on grounds that coal is necessary for the production of electricity.

"Since the grievances raised in the PIL are purportedly in public interest, it is imperative to take into consideration the benefits that the public in general derive from the operations being undertaken by MbPT. It is submitted that a balance needs to be established in order to ascertain whether the coal handling operations ought or ought not to be permitted at the MbPT and the option by which larger public interest is served must to be taken into account," stated the port trust in a submission to the Maharashtra Pollution Control Board, which is currently hearing the case.

However, retired vice-admiral IC Rao and banker Meera Sanyal, who petitioned the high court over the matter, have said in their rebuttal that environmental protection laws are not open to interpretation by the MbPT regarding relative merits vis-a-vis "larger public interest". Rao and Sanyal had petitioned the court in September 2014 seeking to prevent the MPCB from renewing its "consent to operate" order for the port trust. The court passed a speedy order asking the MPCB to treat the PIL as a representation and hear the matter. Eight months later, the matter remains pending with the pollution watchdog.

While the port trust has denied that it is ill-equipped to handle coal, its submission inadvertently admits that its operations to not meet international standards. MbPT says it has been working on a proposal to mechanize coal handling to bring it "up to international standards," which implies that currently does not meet international standards.

source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com