Demands police intervention over safety concerns
MARGAO
With the fishing season coming to a close, the Village Panchayat of Rachol has knocked the doors of the police, seeking their intervention to stop what the panchayat says as illegal parking of fishing vessels in River Zuari and labour issues at Ilha de Rachol.
In his complaint, Sarpanch Joseph Vaz drew attention of the Maina-Curtorim police station to the issue affecting the River Zuari navigation channel near Ilha de Rachol.
He pointed out that several commercial fishing vessels are regularly parked during monsoon season in an unauthorised manner near Ilha de Rachol in River Zuari stretch. This ongoing activity is causing severe disruptions and poses multiple risks to our local community.
Saying the activity is posing navigational Hazards, the sarpanch said the haphazardly anchored trawlers block the natural path of local traditional fishermen and passenger ferries.
That’s not all. The sarpanch said environmental damage is staring the village, as the riverbanks face increased risk of erosion, and there are visible signs of waste and oil spillage from these vessels into the aquatic ecosystem.
Asserting that activity also poses safety risks to the villagers, he said the unauthorised presence of these large vessels near the island poses a potential security and safety hazard to the residents of Ilha de Rachol.
“Given that the Captain of Ports is the regulatory authority for inland waterways, the Village Panchayat of Rachol strongly requests your office to conduct an immediate site inspection,” the sarpanch said, while urging the police to initiate strict legal action against the owners of these unauthorised vessels.
