PANAJI, Sept. 6 — Black thick tar balls that surfaced in various beaches in Goa will now be sent to oil refineries to avoid further pollution.
Goa Tourism minister Nilkant Halarnkar said, "truck loads of tar balls collected from several beaches in Goa will be sent to refineries instead of disposing them off in open fields or elsewhere."
"Although the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) has said that these tar balls will not create any pollution as they are made of petroleum products but still we are not taking any chances," he told reporters here yesterday.
The minister said tar balls surfacing on the coastal state's beaches was an annual phenomenon but this time, their presence was much more.
Majority of beaches were hit with tar balls which began appearing since last Monday and continued for a week. The worst affected were beaches in South Goa. (PNA/PTI) ALM/mec