the goan I network
MARGAO
A number of village panchayats in Salcete on Friday received the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) from the government as part of the Department of Environment’s process to get the plan finalised.
Persons closely associated with the formulation of the village-level CZMP claimed that suggestions made by the villagers find no mention in the plan.
They said the plan is similar to the one prepared by the Chennai-based agency.
Director of Environment Johnson Fernandes said the plan has been sent back to seek clarity.
He pointed out that suggestions made by the panchayat bodies and the individuals will be verified before accepting them, saying that all the suggestions will be heard at a public hearing fixed by the department as per schedule.
Former Ambelim Sarpanch Cruz Silva, who was closely associated with the exercise to put in place the village CZMP for the riverine villages of Ambelim, Velim and Assolna, pointed out that the plan dispatched by the government to the panchayats on Friday is no different to the earlier one.
‘We had forwarded the village CZMP to the government when the government had said that panchayat bodies and individuals were free to make suggestions. We would like to know the fate of the suggestions made by the panchayats and individuals. The CZMP sent to the panchayats finds no mention of these suggestions’,’ Cruz added.
He said the government should come out clean on the issue and tell people how to go about it and incorporate suggestions made by the affected individuals, villagers and panchayats.
