PANAJI
The Chicalim Youth Farmers Club (CYFC) has lodged a complaint regarding mud being dumped in a water body in the village and claimed that they would be directly affected by hydrological disturbances in these traditional storage and drainage systems.
In a letter to the Chicalim panchayat secretary on Monday, the CYFC Secretary Chelsea Fernandes stated that the CYFC noticed a truck dumping mud into the water body on Sunday at about 3 pm.
“The water body is documented in the Public Biodiversity Register (PBR) of Chicalim Village under Goa State Biodiversity Board. This particular water body and the other 6 traditional fresh water ponds in the vicinity are interconnected by drainage system and finally drains out into saline river at the mouth of the Zuari River Bay at Chicalim near Sapal de Sancoale,” stated Fernandes.
“The natural storage of water in this traditional system makes the surrounding area fertile and naturally supports agriculture and coconut grooves established traditionally around these water bodies. This also supports a large number of Biodiversity of flora and fauna as well as avian biodiversity documented in our village PBR.”
Fernandes said the CYFC met a contractor at the site, who claimed that the reclamation is being undertaken by the Water Resources Department (WRD) for the purpose of constructing a concrete retaining wall on the eastern and southern sides of the water body.
“The contractor, however, failed to produce any work order from WRD. As young farmers who would be directly affected by any hydrological disturbances in these traditional storage and
drainage systems, we urgently urge you to kindly initiate action under the prevailing law to ascertain the facts based on which the WRD has allegedly issued any work order to concretise the privately owned traditional water storage and drainage systems in Chicalim and to dump of tonnes of mud into the water body at Chicalim,” the complaint adds.
The Biodiversity Management Committee of Chicalim Panchayat has also raised objection and filed a complaint with the WRD, Environment Secretary, Dy Collector and the Panchayat, requesting them to technically quantify the possible damage to this interconnected water bodies.
‘Church Confraria’s water body will also be affected’
PANAJI: Chicalim Parish Priest Fr Bolmax Pereira has said the dumping of mud in one water body would seriously affect the water body owned by the Confraria of the Chicalim Church.
“The Church Confraria owns one of seven interconnected water bodies in the ward. If mud is filled into one water body, it would affect the flow of water in the six other water bodies,” said Fr Pereira, who has done doctoral studies in the management of wetlands.
Fr Pereira, who also heads the Diocesan Commission for Ecology, added: “Concretisation of natural ponds will affect biodiversity and the Coconut grooves around the water body. I fully endorse the concerns raised by the Chicalim Youth Farmers Club.”
Chicalim panch raises concern
PANAJI: Chicalim’s Ward 11 Panch Roman Vaz has also voiced concern over filling of mud in the Ogor (pond) at Penta ward.
In a letter to the Chicalim Sarpanch on Monday, Vaz stated that some unknown person had been filling mud in the water body locally known as Ogor in Penta ward.
“There are totally seven such natural Ogors in our village which have been protected and untouched for ages by our ancestors. However, it is a shocking scene to see mud bring dumped in the water body, creating a harm to our village biodiversity,” stated Vaz.
“I request your kind intervention immediately stop any or all activities and order it to be restored to its original form. I further request the panchayat to write to the departments concerned to safeguard of these natural beauties of our village biodiversity.”
