PANAJI
The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority has rejected permission to the Kala Academy to reconstruct and extend its jetty from 75 metres to 121 metres and asked the Kala Academy to submit a revised plan if they wish to have their jetty expansion work passed.
This is the second time that the plans to extend the jetty at Kala Academy has been rejected by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority.
When the matter came up for discussion at the meeting of the GCZMA held recently, the expert members noted that the bank of the River along that section is highly unstable noting that the “lighthouse once on land is presently found 10 metres in the river” and though reinforced could not be considered as stable.
They also noted that “the drawings do not appear to be that of a jetty but that of a platform” and hence The GCZMA was not convinced with the concept of the architectural design presented before it as it seemed to be a huge platform which may be further used for private activities other than the mandate of Kala Academy.”
The Kala Academy has now been directed to submit a revised plan of the jetty to a completely floating type jetty without use of piles for its examination.
The Kala Academy had proposed a jetty of 121 mts, covering an area of about 2500 sq mts and pontoon of 200 sq mts to be erected on 101 piles at a distance of five metre from each other. The project was to provide water and shore power for vessels and offered maximum catering flexibility in catering to range of vessels.
The project also included in-built sewage and bilge disposal arrangement.
Earlier too, the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation and the Kala had approached the GCZMA to rebuild the jetty and expand it from the existing 75 metres to 121 metres.
However, in December last year, the GCZMA declined to give them consent saying that the extension does not serve any additional purpose so also the morphological condition of the bank of the River is highly unstable and is prone to erosion.
In response, the Kala Academy had said that there is insufficient depth at 75 m (from the bank) and vessels will not be able to dock at the jetty. Moreover, the variations in tide can cause damage to boats and also endanger the lives of the passenger attempting to embark and disembark at the jetty. They also argued that if the length is restricted to 75 m it will need dredging, which will annually cost over ₹ 2 crore plus there is an added disadvantage that it may change the flow pattern of the Mandovi River, thus causing Environmental damage to the river bank and ecosystem.
