From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Jan 18: The divers have feared to lose their only diving spot in  Goa with garbage and silt posing a problem.

Trash and extensive water pollution has curtailed the diving expeditions along state’s only diving site, Grande Island, located off-port town of Vasco.

The site which is rich with algae and corals is slowly getting chocked with the garbage churned out from the sea coupled with the sea pollution due to the silt spilled over in the waters due to transportation of iron ore through barges.

“The visibility has gone down upto five metres from original eight metres. Also we encounter lot of trash which has made us explore other sites around the island,” Ajey Patil, an instructor with Dive Goa institute, said.

The waters surrounding islands is the place where state’s two major rivers – Mandovi and Zuari – meets.

Patil said that the increasing use of these inland waterways for transporting iron ore from the sites to trans-shiper anchored midsea has spoilt the water.

“The island is situated next to harbour (Mormugao Port Trust)and even the silt that gets dredged from the port also adds to the low visibility,” he said.

Professional divers, who have been visiting this site since last three decades, vouch for extinction of many coral species. “These corals require clear water. There are few corals which are left around the islands have adopted themselves to silt water,” he said.

The use of the island by picnickers also contributes to the garbage dumped in the water. “There are boat rides arranged for this island and tourists usually dump the bottles, plastic waste and other material in the water,” he said.

Another diving expert Venkat Charlu, who owns Bararacupa Diving School in the state, said that the diving clubs organize underwater clean up at the end of April month every year.

He said that the mining silt has decreased the visibility to big extend. “The silt is increasing every year resulting in the dropped visibility,” Charlu, who trains people in diving, said.

A ship wreck lying underwater next to the Island is also an important attraction for the divers. “The areas around harbour had several ship wrecks which got sunk during Portuguese time. But these ships were built of woods and hence have vanished. The only ship wreck which can be explored during diving was a merchant ship that sunk in the year 1940,” Patil said.

He said that lot of tourists from scandavanian countries visit Goa for diving adventure. “There are also Russian and British tourists interested in exploring the world underwater,” Patil said.