the goan I network
PANAJI
Demands to map the Ponte de Linhares, the iconic 3.2-kilometer 17th century causeway connecting Panaji to Ribandar and the St Inez creek as a water body with tidal effect so CRZ rules come into play were aired by citizens on Friday at the public consultation hosted by the Corporation of the City of Panaji in connection with the ongoing exercise to prepare the Coastal Zone Management Plans for the two districts of the State.
Several citizens raised a furore over the now-defunct and error-filled draft CZMP prepared by the Chennai-based National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) which the State government has discarded following State-wide protests.
The causeway, said to be the world’s longest when it was completed in 1634, is built on river Mandovi’s flood plains, is surrounded by salt pans and has ducts which act as tide control mechanisms.
Also, traditional fishermen from Caranzalem swarmed the CCP hall where the public consultation was held on Friday morning and boisterously raised their demand to demarcate the entire beach stretch from Miramar to Dona Paula’s Cabo hillock as a ‘fishing zone’.
The demand for the Miramar-Caranzalem-Dona Paula fishing zone was voiced by Menino D’Souza, a fisherman from the area who was staunchly backed by Olencio Simoes of Goenchea Ramponkarancho Ekvott.
Retired Goa University Professor Joe D’Souza made a strong case for zoning the stretch of the DB Marg from the Old Secretariat to the Old Goa Medical College as a ‘Conservation Zone’ citing the existence of several centuries-old structures which qualify for the heritage tag.
Other issues raised by citizens and groups include mapping of the Ourem creek which is a bio-diversity rich water body and the Mala lake. CCP Commissioner Sanjith Rodrigues and Mayor Uday Madkaikar assured that all the issues formally raised at Friday’s consultation will be officially forwarded to the Environment Department which is the nodal department anchoring the CZMP preparation.
The GRE, meanwhile, submitted a formal memorandum to Rodrigues as well as Panaji MLA Atanasio Monserrate demanding cancellation of the proposal for Blue Flag Certification to the Miramar beach and to declare Aivao to Miramar estuary as a fish-breeding zone up to two nautical miles.
