VASCO
Goa Fishing Boat Owners Association (GFBOA) President Jose Philip D'Souza on Friday accused the Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) of a hidden agenda to destroy houses of fishermen and the fishing jetty by carrying out dredging activities close to the shoreline.
Speaking to Fisheries Minister Nilkanth Halarnkar during the "Taluka Wise Minister’s Visit" programme, D'Souza said the present dilapidated Kharewaddo jetty would collapse within a year if the MPA dredging activity was not halted immediately.
"I was on the fishing jetty when we saw a dredger carrying out dredging right next to our launches on the fishing jetty. This is shocking because this will take away mud from the base, making structures hollow and this will lead to the collapse of our jetty within the next few months.”
“We will have no other options if the jetty collapses and this is why I have demanded that government immediately directs the MPA to stop dredging activity and the has agreed to this.”
“The MPA has a hidden agenda to carry out dredging close to the shoreline so that the jetty and the fishermen houses along the entire Kharewaddo belt collapses automatically,” said D’Souza.
The requested the minister to take up this issue seriously and direct his department to resolve issues of the fishermen because many houses in Kharewaddo had collapsed after the MPA had earlier undertaken dredging activity.
“The people of Kharewaddo are already living in great fear due to rise in water levels caused by dredging activity which could lead to collapse of their houses. I am confident that MPA plans of having a new fishing jetty is an eyewash and they have adopted to this new plan of automatically destroying our houses and jetty to get rid of the obstacles on their expansion plans," said D'Souza.
