VASCO
Warning the government that the ‘Blue Flag’ certification to Miramar beach would displace traditional occupation of fishermen, Goenchea Ramponkaranchea Ekvott (GRE) has said it would give a backdoor entry to marinas, water sports and similar activities.
Addressing media persons in Vasco, the GRE questioned the government, department of science, technology and environment (DSTE) and Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) for nominating Miramar beach for the ‘blue flag’ certification.
“The union ministry for environment, forest and climate change had first proposed Velsao beach, but due to objection from locals and fishermen, it was shifted to Miramar beach,” said GRE General Secretary Olencio Simoes.
“The government should drop the ministry’s proposal to declare Miramar beach stretch for the ‘Blue Flag’ Certification, as this certification will bring in marinas, casino, watersports and other related infrastructural activities.”
“These activities, in turn, will only deprive the livelihood of traditional fishermen of Caranzalem and Miramar as well as recreational place for people of Taligao, Panaji and other neighboring areas,’ said Simoes.
“The entire beach stretch is almost 2 kms and is used as a landing point for fishing canoes, nets, drying, etc. As per CRZ notification 2011, the government has still not completed the process of demarcating sand dunes and Miramar has over 2 lakh sq. mtrs of sand dunes.”
“Sand dunes play a vital role in protecting our beaches from erosion, coastal flooding and storm damage. Sand dunes also provide supply of sand to maintain the beach. Any development at the cost of sand dunes will be an irreversible disaster,” said Simoes.
He added that the State government, as per CRZ notifications 2011, has to notify fishing villages where all foreshore facilities required for fishing and fishery allied activities such as traditional fish processing yards, boat building or repair yards, net mending yards, ice plants, ice storage, auction hall, jetties would be permitted.
“Instead of declaring Miramar beach sand and its stretch as fishing village, the government and MoEF will destroy the beach,” said Simoes.
GRE President Agnelo Rodrigues said the ‘Blue Flag’ certification will only give backdoor entry to marinas.
But Alina says Miramar is okay for the project, Velsao can breathe easy
VASCO: Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha on Tuesday informed reporters that she was absolutely fine by the decision to shift the ‘blue flag’ beach certification project from Velsao to Miramar beach. “We welcome the decision and we are absolutely OK with the move to shift the ‘blue flag’ beach certification project from Velsao to Miramar beach.”
“Velsao beach was the first choice for the ‘blue flag’ beach certification project and we also had a presentation shown to us by the consultant and I ensured that the main stakeholders of the beach, the traditional fishermen, were also present for the presentation,” said Saldanha.
“We cannot allow destruction for the sake of ‘blue flag’ certification of the beach. Initially, we were happy that the project included cleaning of the beach, but we noticed that the cleaning would be done by heavy machinery and these machinery cannot be used as it will flatten the sand and spoil the beach shore diversity.” “As a part of the presentation, the consultant informed the traditional fishermen that they will not be able to place their canoes on the entire stretch of the beach and will be restricted to a corner of the beach, to which they also objected,” said Saldanha
“Moreover, Velsao beach has no big roads or big entry points for such machines as land next to the beach is belonging to private owners,” said Saldanha.
