Residents of Vasco are enduring a tough time overcoming the mess that has been generated at Mormugao Port Trust. Although since last week, the coal dust pollution issue was under the spotlight, on Thursday residents were facing new problem that had washed at the Khariawada shore, as wood chips in huge quantities began surfacing along the coast. President of Old Cross Fishing Boat Owner’s Association Custodio D’Souza said, Since Thursday morning, we have witnessing wood chips washing ashore at Khariawada, which is turning out to be a big mess. Earlier the coal dust was affecting our health, even polluting our food. Now, these wood chips have affected our livelihood. Sources said a consignment of wood chips that has arrived at the port, and the chips have fallen into the sea while unloading. D’Souza said that due to the problem, fishing activity at Khariawada was affected. Many avoided venturing out for fishing, fearing that the chips will affect their nets. However, some fishermen who did go out, said that the chips got entangled with their nets, while boat owners claimed to have suffered huge losses. The fishermen also had to spend a lot of time trying to remove the chips from the net. D’Souza blamed local officials as well as Goa State Pollution Control Board for not holding the port authorities accountable for their negligence. We can’t be running to the authorities everytime asking them to wake up. It looks like nobody is interested in our welfare, he added.