the goan I network
VASCO
The Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott (GRE) has demanded that the taluka-level presentation on the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) maps be postponed and conducted only after a new map is prepared.
GRE accused the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) of mocking the people of Goa by holding a taluka-level presentation on same unchanged draft CZMP maps.
“The GCZMA is trying to regularize the wrongdoing of the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), rather then blacklisting the agency and recovering the Rs 2 crore given to them to prepare the maps,” alleged GRE General Secretary Olencio Simoes.
“It was the GCZMA who had postponed the public hearing scheduled on July 7, as the NCSCM had failed to prepare the CZMP as per guidelines laid by the CRZ notification 2011.”
“But shamelessly, the GCZMA is holding a taluka-level presentation without making even a single change in the maps. The NCSCM should be immediately dropped for not preparing the CZMP as per guidelines.”
“The government should only appoint the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa University and Water Resource Department (WRD) to prepare the CZMP,” said Simoes.
GRE President Agnelo Podrigues said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has formed the Jal Shakti Ministry due to water crises in several cities of India and added that Goa has also faced a water crisis.
“The prime minister has appealed to citizens to work towards water conservation, but unfortunately several water bodies, streams, springs, wells, creeks, etc., which are a source to charge groundwater and also a nursing ground to several marine species which fall in the ambit of Coastal Regulation Zone are not shown in the draft CZMP maps,” said Rodrigues.
“The government must remember that fisher folk in 1989 had organized a coastal yatra from West Bengal to Kanyakumari and another group from Gujarat to Kanyakumari demanding laws to protect the coastal areas. This eventually led to the formation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Notification, but the government has taken people for granted as the entire process of preparing the CZMP has not been as per guidelines laid by CRZ notification 2011.”
“The taluka-level presentation on the draft CZMP maps should be postponed and taken up only after NIO, GU and WRD prepare a new plan after thorough ground work,” added Rodrigues.
