the goan I network
OLD GOA
Highlighting major anomalies in the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan for Santa Cruz village, locals demanded that the same be corrected and re-notified after making all changes in active participation of the villagers and concerned stakeholders like fishing community, farming community, tenants, communidade, etc.
The villagers have also demanded that a technical expert be deputed to explain the plan to stakeholders in the local language for better understanding and comprehension.
These decisions were made at a special meeting held by the St Cruz panchayat to deliberate and discuss on draft CZMP in the panchayat hall on Wednesday.
Speaking at the meeting, Elsa Dias highlighted how khazan fields have been shown as mangrove areas and mudflats.
“Mangroves have grown in the khazan fields after entry of saline water due to breach of bundhs, but that does not mean it has become a mangrove area,” Dias pointed out and suggested that these have to be notified as khazan fields so that farmers do not suffer in the future.
“In the map, areas have been classified into different categories such as CRZ-1A and others, but no explanation is given on the same,” Dias said.
She demanded a written explanation for better understanding of the categories.
“Further, there is a category for water bodies, but no water bodies are shown in the plan for St Cruz. The Bondvoll Lake is not shown in the plan along with different water bodies like ponds, wells, lakes etc.”
“A part which lies on the higher side of the Bondvoll lake is entirely missing from the plan. Besides, the map between 129 and 130 is missing. Apart from Bondvoll lake, there are many lakes but these are not marked as well,” she added.
Dias also highlighted that the high tide line is not marked properly as also the fish breeding areas. “Rocky parts along the coastal area should also be shown,” she added.
Concluding, Dias opined that the plan is totally faulty as there are major discrepancies and the plan is prepared by taking help of Google maps, which is wrong.
“They should have consulted the panchayat, local MLA, villagers, fishing & farming community and other stakeholders,” Dias said.
Another villager Naresh D’Souza demanded that a local agency be appointed while preparing the CZMP rather than an agency from Chennai.
Later, the villagers submitted a written memorandum to the panchayat highlighting the various demands on the draft CZMP.
