MARGAO
Charging the Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd with destroying the bio-diversity and natural flow of water in the village, the Majorda-Utorda-Calata Bio-diversity Management Committee has urged the South Goa Collector to stop the ongoing work at the earliest to obviate further damage to the biodiversity, the agricultural fields, the destruction of natural flow of water, etc.
The Committee has also urged the office of the Collector to arrange a joint inspection immediately of officials from Collector’s office, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited, State Bio-Diversity board members, and the Bio-diversity committee members of Majorda-Utorda-Calata village panchayat at the earliest to understand the disaster and destruction that awaits the villages due to the unplanned construction being undertaken in the name of the double tracking project.
Chairperson of Majorda-Utorda-Calata Bio-diversity management committee Miss Karen Braganza informed that ‘it is pertinent to note that farmers in both the villages are dependent on the flowing water and underground water reserve to carry out their agricultural activities throughout the year.
“Construction work has been undertaken parallel to the railway track in Majorda by Rail Vikas Nigam Limited and there is lot of construction debris, waste and dirty mud/slurry is been dumped in agriculture fields. Majorda Lake which is across the Railway track on eastern side will be polluted if the debris, mud/slurry and other construction material is not removed immediately”, she said.
She added: “This water subsequently flows into River Sal. Any pollution, blockage or disruption of water flow will severely affect the entire bio-diversity and water table of the village of Utorda & Majorda and the same will result in flooding of fields and villages during the monsoon, leading to catastrophic damage”.
She said environmental experts who have visited the site and also the elderly who have been in cultivation in the villages for decades have opined and fear that the thoughtless and unplanned construction activities being undertaken by RVNL is sure to result in a catastrophic disaster of the environment leading to flooding in the villages and destruction of the agricultural fields.
What has agitated the Bio-diversity Management committee members is that though the Committee has informed all the concerned Government Departments such as South Goa Collector, Water resource department, Town & Country planning, Goa State Bio-diversity Board, Administration of Comunidades on the ground reality, no action or inspection has taken place till date.
While calling for a joint inspection of the ongoing railway works near the Majorda railway track, by involving all the government agencies, the Committee has urged the district Collector to stop the work at the earliest to obviate further damage to the biodiversity, the agricultural fields, the destruction of natural flow of water, etc.
