PANAJI
A mini-storm is brewing in Santa Cruz where villagers are restive over a real estate project dangerously close to Bondvoll lake, a notified wetland, and the government is in a hurry to act and nip the controversy in the bud.
Bondvoll, a century-old Portuguese-era water body, was declared a wetland in 2022. It feeds farms and biodiversity across its catchment. But with developers recently clearing a section of the land on the hillside, local villagers and activists have raised a hue and cry alleging that the development will violate the lake's buffer zone and adversely impact the lake itself.
According to Arturo D'Souza, a prominent activist and resident of the village, alarm bells first rang in 2016 when the lake went dry.
"Water levels in all the wells around the nearby Bandh and Aradi hamlets also plummeted perhaps for the first time in my lifetime," D'Souza said, adding that although it is notified as a wetland now, hydrological tests have not been done to ascertain the ground water streams and aquifers.
Construction without these assessments will contaminate the streams and thereafter the lake, he added.
“This lake is our lifeline. Concrete around it will kill its balance. Future generations will lose clean water,” D'Souza said, adding that 'sewerage treatment plants' mandated for high-rise development are untrustworthy as these are not monitored on a regular basis by the Goa State Pollution Control Board.
Villagers have rallied and accused the government of faulty zoning. They have also served an ultimatum to authorities to fix errors in the notified boundaries within a week.
Local MLA Rudolf Fernandes quickly engaged with the restive villagers and facilitated a meeting with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. He then told reporters that Sawant has assured to act and safeguard Bondvoll.
The controversy, meanwhile, has apparently rattled the government coming as it does parallelly to the nearby Chimbel Unity Mall uprising forcing it to act.
A day after the CM's meeting with the villagers, the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Vishwajit Rane also stepped in and reportedly held discussions with the St Cruz Parish Priest, Richard Pinheiro, along with local residents.
Rane subsequently announced that the TCP department will be instructed to review the project's permissions and that no additional FAR or development which could affect the Bondvoll lake will be permitted.
On Thursday, the TCP department acted swiftly to hold the project’s technical clearance in abeyance and directed its proponents to halt all activity at the site, action which is seen as an attempt to nip the unrest before it grows.
But villagers remain cautious and argue that the government is dragging its feet. “We want firm action, not half measures,” said Inacio Domnic Pereira, who claimed that holding permissions already granted in abeyance is 'temporary' and not a final act.
Pereira, himself a panch member, also raised questions over the St Cruz Panchayat dragging its feet over the issue even after the TCP department held back the technical clearance.
He also said that the Goa State Wetland Authority, which had earlier notified a 50-metre buffer around the lake, is not acting promptly to notify the buffer area adequately.
The clash is stark with developers pushing for land and villagers on the other hand fighting for preservation of natural water sources and heritage.
For now, the project is stalled with the TCP’s move buying time. But the larger battle -- between real estate expansion and ecological preservation -- remains unresolved.
