VASCO
The Cansualim Villagers Action Committee (CVAC) on Sunday demanded that all the water bodies and their flow channels including nullahs be demarcated in the survey plan of the village.
CVAC member Simon D'Souza speaking to the media said that a public meeting was called of the people from the coastal belt as they had finally got an NGT order in their favour after a long struggle.
"The NGT has directed us to contact the Collector, WRD, Panchayat and Directorate of settlement and land records (DSLR) to get the water bodies demarcated in the survey plans. We have explained to the people that the panchayat in all these years does not have a disaster management plan for flooding and hence demarcation of water bodies is vital," said D'Souza.
"While there is no disaster management plan for flooding, hotel projects have been passed by keeping the proponents in the dark about the existence of water bodies and the flow channels and nullahs. We also request elected representatives of the panchayat and Zilla Parishad, and the MLA to have a body meeting and get these water bodies marked by relevant authorities. There should be no blockage caused to the water that flows in the Arabian sea through these channels which can subsequently cause flooding," said D'Souza.
"Many hotel projects are planned for the future and the proponents could assume that there were no water bodies in the area if the demarcation was not done. The people will come on the roads in agitation and go on a hunger strike if the water bodies were not marked despite the NGT order," D'Souza added.
Another member Anthony D'Silva alleged that a hotel project proponent had buried a water body and got a road in the property despite WRD mentioning that water bodies and flow channels were present in the property.
"The project was given an EC in 2017 which was challenged by us, but when our petition was disposed of in 2019 the NGT order mentioned the water bodies and flow channel in the property and they should be protected by the proponents, but the water bodies have been buried in reality. In the past when an inspection was held, we villagers were informed at the last moment and we were not allowed to speak, however, NGT has now issued a final order to demarcate the water bodies and nullahs in the survey plan and we will go on a mass agitation if this order is not followed," said D'Silva.
