MARGAO
SGPDA parking lot, the venue for July 8 Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) public hearing is just a 3-4 minute walking distance from the nearby KTC bus stand.
Citizens from South Goa, who wish to make their point heard at the hearing, should not have any difficulty in making it to the venue, after alighting at the adjoining bus stand.
They, however, may be in a fix getting back home in the far flung areas of the state. While participants may have no difficulty in descending on the city during day-time, there will however, be no public transport available from Margao to far-flung areas such as Vasco, Canacona, Sanvordem or Ponda after sunset.
Inquiries by ‘The Goan’ have revealed that the last bus departing from the KTC Margao stand to Canacona is 8 pm. A glance at the bus timings on various KTC routes in South Goa show that the last bus heading to Vasco and Sanvordem from Margao is 7 pm, while the last bus on the Margao-Ponda route is at 6.10 pm.
That the public hearing for South Goa is going to be a non-stop affair, as claimed by Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) official and officials of the district Administration, participants from far-away places may have to come to Margao by their own mode of transport or stay put in Margao the entire night before leaving to their respective destinations the next morning by public transport.
While the district administration is putting a mechanism in place at the venue, including a rain-proof pandal to accommodate 1000-1500 participants, issues relating to public transport have still not been given a serious thought.
“It appears the administration expects the participants to make it for the hearing by their transport. The police administration even expects the participants to come by buses as the traffic police has made arrangements inside the SGDPA market complex for buses to make a halt”, an official stated.
The official added: “The issue over public transport would not have come to the fore if the hearing was to end for the day before sunset to resume next morning. But, GCZMA officials have maintained that the July 8 CZMP hearing will be a non-stop affair without any break till the last participant is heard by the authorities”.
GCZMA Member Secretary Dashrath Redkar said there cannot be any provision for public transport for the people attending the hearing. When it was pointed out to him that people form Talpona, Galgibaga, Canacona and other villages will face transport problems if the hearing goes through the night, Redkar said the participants are required to come for the hearing on their own. “We cannot make public transport arrangements for the participants. It is for the participants to come by their own vehicles”, he said.
A senior district administration official said the administration has so far not given a thought to the public in the event the hearing goes on non-stop.
Concerns over logistics to the fore
PANAJI: Activists and concerned citizens feel that continuous 24X7 hearing is a matter of concern with respect to logistic issues." I am 67-year old retiree. How will I present myself if my turn for hearing comes in the midnight, asked Dr Antonio Mascarenhas.
Dr Mascarenhas also said that with such type of marathon sessions the staff of GCZMA will be tired despite working in shifts.
Holding the hearing in the mid of pandamic and monsoon itself is problematic, Dr Mascarenhas said.
Activist Roshan Mathais felt logistics was an important issue. How will people come back at night from hearing and what are the provisions for their return journey, he asked.
Member Secretary Dasharath Redkar, however, exuded confidence in GCZMA staff working in shifts and other arrangement at the venue for 24X7 hearing.
NCP cites Covid,
urges govt to
put off hearing
MARGAO: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) Nuvem block has demanded postponement of the July 8 Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP ) hearing, saying the government has no right to put the lives of people at risk.
NCP Nuvem Block president Franky D’Mello demanded that the government do a rethink on the public hearing considering that the state is passing through a bad phase of pandemic situation, moreover with the detection of Delta variants in the neighboring state of Maharashtra.
Saying that fear and anxiety has gripped the people due to the ongoing Covid 19 Pandemic, he said that farmers have no access to online registration
“If registered at the venue, farmers would not be able to travel due to the lack of public transport”, he said.
Franky pointed out that there’s fear in the minds of the people to participate in the public hearing as AIIMS doctors and other experts have predicted 3rd wave of Covid in the first week of July.
