VASCO
The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman is currently celebrating the Season of Creation Week from October 3 to October 9 with a number of activities and as part of this programme, the Goa Ecology organised a ‘Creation Walk’.
On October 3, the Chicalim Youth Farmers Club (CYFC) joined hands with Goa Ecology’s “ Creation Walk and organised a ‘Swabhimani Padyatra’ in Chicalim.
It was a walk of self dignity to admire the beauty of creation and identifying in a special way the ecologically vulnerable places in the village for further conservational action.
The Swabhimani Padyatra organised by CYFC began from the Chicalim Post Office at 4 pm and Parish Priest Fr Bolmax Pereira welcomed all villagers to the padyatra.
During the walk, the villagers got a glimpse of many sites of archaeological importance which are facing complete neglect.
Cyril Fernandes, heritage lover and Convener of the Chicalim Bio“Crusaders shared the history of the megalithic caves and villagers got an opportunity to witness three such caves present in Naquelim-Chicalim.
The Padyatra then proceeded to the ruins of the original church of Chicalim which was built in honour of St Bartholomeu in 1625.
The villagers also stopped by the miraculous chapel of St Anthony in the Gina-Penta ward, where Fr Peter Fernandes prayed through intercession of the saint for the well being of all the villagers, while Fr Bolmax Pereira blessed all Swabhimani yatris gathered.
"As we were nearing the completion of the Padyatra, it was sad to observe heaps of garbage dumped on the Uttor Dongor and along the roadside in Alto Chicalim although the village panchayat carries out regular garbage collection," said one CYFC member participating in the Padyatra.
The villagers also visited a cow shed and poultry farm in the village and learnt about different techniques used by the owner, Rui Costa Araujo. The walk finally ended at Uttor Dongor, a home to the vast biodiversity of birds.
"The Padyatra organised by the CYFC is a reminder to all of us that we need to do more to guard our Swabhiman by admiring our ecological biodiversity and guarding our heritage from unsustainable development. We have to preserve our resources for future generation," said Captain Viriato Fernandes.
