In the wake of tar balls surfacing on beaches across Goa, the state Tourism Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar on Tuesday assured that the shorelines will be cleaned up within the next two days.
Over the weekend, tar balls got washed up on several beach stretches, including Anjuna in North Goa, which are frequented by domestic tourists.
Speaking to reporters, Ajgaonkar said, "Goa's beaches are famed internationally. We can't afford to keep them littered with tar balls as it will affect the tourism prospects."
As devotees flocked to Miramar beach during the Ganesh Visarjan, huge amount of greasy tar balls were found deposited at the beach on Saturday. #Goa #Miramar #Tar #Pollution #Panjim pic.twitter.com/mk0nVwsE2D
The work of cleaning up the beaches has already started by the agency employed by the tourism department, he said, adding that tar balls getting washed up on beaches in an annual phenomenon, for which a solution needs to be found.
Meanwhile, local fishermen have been complaining about tar balls on the beaches. Sanjay Pereira, a fisherman from Cacra village near Panaji, said that it becomes difficult even to walk on the beaches.
"The sticky substance gets stuck on the feet and it becomes irritating to walk on beaches. We have seen tar balls surface on the banks of Zuari river as well," Pereira said.
Tarballs are lumps or blobs of solidified tar resulting from an oil spill or natural seepage from the sea, that often get washed up on beaches.