Mandrekar fumes over Siolim project
Says there will be no facility of boating
panaji
Water Resources Minister Dayanand Mandrekar was left enraged after persistent questions from journalists about the nature of the project being implemented at Siolim Chapora.
Mandrekar reiterated what he had told The Goan earlier, saying that the plan is part of a ‘beautification’ project will not have a facility of boating given the shallow draft but is for ‘beautification.’
Meanwhile, the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority has in a recent meeting decided to forward the Dr Antonio Mascarenhas report to the WRD to consider it as an ‘advisory’.
When a journalist persisted as to what ‘beautification’ meant it got Mandrekar’s goat. “Allow me to explain! Do you not want an answer from me?” Mandrekar said as it went on to explain, with the help of the Chief Minister, that beautification meant building a promenade, a space for people to enjoy themselves in the evening or in the morning.
When asked, who was opposing the project, Mandrekar said that it was only “a few people who themselves had built constructions in the fields just beside the river.”
When countered that the people had said that it was the government that rendered the field infertile, Mandrekar countered: “Do you have any proof?”
Mandrekar had earlier told The Goan that the plan was not just to strengthen the bunds but also to build a promenade on the lines of the Narmada waterfront project but on a smaller scale. He also denied that there would be a place for berthing boats saying that the draught was too shallow for boats or casinos to enter the river.
The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority had approved the project in its 120th meeting held on September 11 last year despite reservations expressed by one of its expert members Dr Antonio Mascarenhas a former NIO scientist.
On the directions of the National Green Tribunal on May 31, this year, the GCZMA carried out another site inspection this time by Dr Antonio Mascarenhas and not Dr Raghunath Dhume as earlier, which was scathing in its observations against the WRD.
In its meeting held on July 1, the GCZMA in a recent meeting has asked the WRD to take up work on strengthening and repair of the bund on priority (given that the repairs of the bund which had to be given priority by the WRD was not yet undertaken and instead the platform was being built) as well as to forward the inspection report filed by Dr Antonio Mascarenhas to the WRD and the Forest Department with a recommendation that it be considered as an advisory."[It] shall be given due consideration and implemented by the WRD and Forest Department during the construction of the project," the GCZMA ruled.
