MARGAO
A special meeting of Chinchinim-Deussua Village Panchayat has on Friday resolved to request the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to scrap the new CZMP and adopt the one prepared by the panchayat in 2019.
The meeting also demanded rescheduling of the public hearings and hold these at the panchayat level after the CZMPs are explained at the gram sabha meeting.
The meeting deliberated over the new CZMP maps sent to the panchayat by GCZMA and the notification announcing that a public hearing for the entire South Goa District on March 7 at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, from 10 am to 7 pm.
The meeting chaired by Sarpanch Inacinha Rebello observed that the villagers along with the VP had prepared and submitted detailed and accurate CZMPs in 2019.
It was pointed out that the villagers have been given no justification why the CZMPs prepared with all the details required by the guidelines given under the CRZ Notification 2011 have been ignored, adding that the new maps and legends need to be explained to all the affected villagers.
The meeting demanded that the GCZMA explain the new CZMPs to the people during a gram sabha meeting, before the public hearing.
It was pointed out that a preliminary review of the new CZMPs and comparison with the detailed CZMPs prepared by the people revealed that the new CZMPs were completely incorrect and failed to demarcate essential features of the CRZ areas of the villages.
Discrepancies seen were that the fields of the villagers have been wrongly shown as khazans, though there are no khazans in the village. Saying that the bandhs are not demarcated correctly, the villagers pointed out that some of the bandhs are missing in the new CZMP.
While taking note of the fact that the entire river bank and adjoining water bodies of Chinchinim and Deussua are shown as within Port Limits, the meeting demanded the complete removal of the limits, saying that the Sal river, its banks and adjoining water bodies and lands all belong to the local communities.
The meeting pointed out that mangroves that have grown spuriously in the fields and fish ponds due to breach of bandhs and lack of maintenance need to be shown with a different legend as ‘Mangrove in Fields’ and should not have any protection or buffer, since the bandhs must be repaired and the fields restored to their original state.
Members cited Durga ward as an example where the existing structures and lands are wrongly included within mangrove buffer, creating a grave injustice and threat to the local community.
That’s not all. Members pointed out that the fields have also been wrongly shown as salt marshes in some areas, adding that the hazard line is shown arbitrarily and needs to be rectified in consultation with the village panchayat and people.
“NCSCM needs to explain the basis for mapping lands far from the river and high above the sea level as within the hazard line. The fishing areas and resources of the village are not mapped at all. ‘Khari’ and ‘futtani’ nets, other fishing areas and canoe parking areas are not shown on the maps. Aquaculture and Ogors are not mapped. Existing structures are not demarcated. All existing structures within CRZ must be mapped and demarcated on the CZMPs. The traditional pathways to the CRZ areas for the livelihoods of the local communities are not demarcated. The sub-division and survey numbers are wrongly demarcated on the CZMPs,” the meeting observed further.
