AGNELO PEREIRA
MAPUSA
Referring to the Kerala floods as a wake-up call, concerned citizens have cautioned the State government over its plan to landfill vast swathes of fields to build a new township in downtown Mapusa.
The government plans to develop a township on 18 lakh-odd sq mtrs of agricultural land in the suburbs of Mapusa. These paddy fields form an important buffer zone between Mapusa and the surrounding villages of Verla-Canca, Guirim and Bastora. The vast fields act as catchment areas, with capacity to absorb excess water during a heavy spell of rain in the city.
“Any flood-like situation can definitely raise an alarm and be a cause of deep concern for the people of this locality,” said Tulio De Souza, an architect from Saligao.
Cautioning the government and calling for sustainable development after having due environment impact assessment study done, De Souza said, “I don’t think any environment impact assessment report has been prepared on the project. Last time when we met, the representative of LKS India, the consultants hired to prepare the plan, could not give a satisfactory reply on the issue.”
The city of Mapusa got a scare on June 20 this year when incessant rains flooded parts of Mapusa, especially the low-lying khazan and cultivable areas. Parts of Khorlim and several roads in Mapusa were flooded after the city was pounded with 217 mm rainfall, the heaviest in a 24-hour spell on that day.
According to a Parra-environmentalist, it was the government that was pushing for the new township in Mapusa and not the locals.
“The government does not care about ecology. They don’t care about tenants or those who are cultivating the land. They are only worried about real estate developers and companies,” he said.
Stating that the government was fully committed to big programmes but was not able to predict the consequences, he added: “When you have large scale development in a short period of time, you are not able to calculate the environmental consequences and that is the main problem.
Admitting that Kerala was a wake-up call, Mapusa-based architect Ashwinikumar Prabhu said any development should focus on the aspect of disaster management as well.
“While considering the present rain in a particular area, we should also consider excess rain of 10-20% and the water that will come. And we should plan how this water should be discharged,” said Prabhu, who is one of the members of the task force in-charge of the downtown scheme in Mapusa.
Stating that no one can plan for everything, he said, Kerala got 100% excess rain and it was unexpected.
“What we are trying to do in Mapusa is planned development. We have seen unplanned development in the name of RP or ODPs, etc where plots of agricultural land get converted and buildings come up without any plans of where the rain water will go. At least here, we have a chance to plan for such things,” he defended.
He said according to the preliminary plans prepared by the consultants, the entire space in front of the Bodgeshwar temple was kept open.
He suggested designing specific catchment areas and also stressed on de-silting of the Tar River on regular basis where most of the rain water gets drained.
