the goan I network
MARGAO
After Pernem and Canacona, Saxttikars are bracing up to protest and boycott the ongoing Coastal Zone Management Plan consultative process scheduled for Salcete taluka at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, on July 27.
This became evident at the gram sabha of Colva village panchayat on Sunday when agitated members, while rejecting the present plan, called upon the people to descend in large numbers at the Ravindra Bhavan on July 27 to lodge their protest against the plan in its present form.
The Camurlim gram sabha, which also deliberated on the plan, demanded that the CZMP should be discussed at the panchayat level before preparing the draft.
At the Colva gram sabha chaired by Sarpanch Anthony Fernandes, members vehemently opposed the CZMP on grounds that the plan has not taken the ground reality into account.
Members pointed out that the ongoing consultative process will serve no purpose unless and until the plan is prepared by roping in agencies such as the NIO or Goa University with public participation.
A gram sabha member told The Goan after the meeting that the people will descend on the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, on July 27 to protest against the government’s attempt to bulldoze with the plan.
“When a host of discrepancies have come to light, there’s no point of participating in the consultative process. The plan needs to be drafted afresh by taking the panchayats into consideration,” he stated.
At Camurlim gram sabha chaired by Sarpanch Basil Fernandes, members said the draft plan should be first discussed at the panchayat level calling for public hearings. The Sarpanch informed that the gram sabha members were opposed to the CZMP in its present form.
The ongoing taluka-level consultative process, which has been rejected by the people of Pernem and Canacona, during the weekend, is scheduled at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, for the people of Salcete.
The gram sabhas of almost all the villages that come under the CRZ norms have rejected the CZMP.
Even the Cuncolim Municip al Council, which deliberated on the plan last week, has rejected the plan on grounds that it is incomplete.
