OLD GOA
Affected villagers of Ella-Old Goa have urged the Se Old Goa panchayat to convene a special gram sabha to discuss the draft notification declaring Carambolim Lake as wetland, in which vast areas of Ella have been included in the ‘zone of influence’.
The villagers have further demanded that since the Old Goa panchayat was not issued the notification, despite inclusion of its areas in the ‘zone of influence’, the Goa State Wetlands Authority (GSWA) should grant an extension to submit objections.
The villagers have contended that in the notification issued in November 2020, the GSWA has demarcated a vast area of Ella under ‘zone of influence’ which would have a huge ramification for the affected locals in the future.
Speaking to the media, panch Nilkanth Bhomkar said initially nobody was aware of the inclusion of Old Goa areas in the wetland notification.
“However, some villagers brought to my notice that areas of Ella have been included in the notification under the ‘zone of influence’,” Bhomkar said.
“But the Old Goa panchayat had no information in the matter as no correspondence was received. But after getting the notification, it was found that majority of the areas included in the ‘zone of influence’ are from Ella-Old Goa.”
“Then, we requested ZP member Siddesh Naik to help us in getting an officer from GSWA so that everything could be explained in details,” he added.
ZP member Siddesh Naik said huge areas of Ella-Old Goa and Corlim are included in the ‘zone of influence’ in the notification to declare Carambolim Lake as wetland.
“However, the notification was issued only to the Carambolim panchayat and not to the Old Goa and Corlim panchayats. Which is why, the period of submitting objections got over,” Naik informed.
“Since Old Goa panchayat was not intimated, we have requested the panchayat authorities to write to the GSWA to extend the period to submit objections,” Naik added.
“Since the people were unaware, there is a need of awareness among the affected locals on the issue, particularly with regards to the ‘zone of influence’. So, we have requested the authority concerned to grant an extension to submit the objections,” said Naik, while adding that around 13 lakh sq. metrs land has been included in the buffer zone and ‘zone of influence’.
“People are apprehensive that including such a huge area in the ‘zone of influence’ which has many restrictions, it would create a lot of hassle to the affected people. Theit demand is that the vast areas included in the ‘zone of influence’ should be omitted,” Naik added.
Locals Disha Karmalkar, Glen Cabral and others were part of the delegation which submitted the memorandum to the Se Old Goa sarpanch in the presence of panchas Vishwas Kuttikar and Megasham Parvatkar.
