It was June 2008. The conflicts between Mormugao Port Trust (MoPT) and South West Port Limited (SWPL) on coal/coke handling once again surfaced following a report submitted by the National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) concluding that residents of Vasco city near the port were inhaling coal pollution much beyond the permissible limit. The pollution was caused by coal/coke handling by MoPT in berths 10 and 11 which were closer to Vasco city. MoPT had awarded berths 5A and 6A to SWPL on a ?common user' basis with the intention of shifting the coal/coke handling to their berths. Due to other clauses in the Licence Agreement (LA), this did not happen and was also not easy to invoke. Ms Priya, a Professor, who was following the events, was wondering as to what moves MoPT may make and what SWPL's response would be. She was also reflecting on the lessons towards policy making on common user vs captive berths at ports and bringing in greater rigor in concession/licence agreements.