the goan I network
MARGAO
Traditional fishermen inhabiting the riverine villages along the River Sal see red over Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s plan to desilt the river, fearing the project would destroy the rich marine habitat along the river stretch spanning, Betul, Cutbona, Ambelim, Assolna and right up to Deussua-Chinchinim.
With this particular stretch of the river known all over for large-scale presence of clams, oysters, mussels and other varieties of shell fish and river fish, fishermen are apprehensive that removal of the silt from the river bed may destroy the marine habitat, the very habitat that had played host to the different species of shell fish over the decades.
While the Chief Minister has batted for the River Sal desilting on the plea that the river water is polluted with high levels of e-coli, the traditional fishermen have cast doubts over Pramod Sawant’s assurance that the rich marine habitat will not get destroyed by the river desilting.
Says Cruz Silva, a resident of Ambelim and former sarpanch: “What is the guarantee that the desilting work will not destroy the marine habitat in the River Sal. There were certain pockets near the Betul jetty, Cutbona near Zug Mobor and Sao Paulo islands off Ambelim, the stretch along Assolna right up to Deussau, which are rich in shell fish. Our main concern is destruction of the rich marine habitat will only displace the traditional fishermen eking a living on the
river source.”
To drive home the point that desilting would result in the destruction of the marine habitat, Cruz cited the case of the disappearance of shell fish near the Assolna bridge following rampant sand mining on the east side of the bridge. “Beleaguered fishermen are worried that a similar fate will hit them if desilting takes place in River Sal,” he added.
Fishermen pointed out that the government or the NIO should depute it’s officials to the village panchayats and explain the project as well as address their concerns over the marine habitat.
While the Chief Minister has further assured to prepare an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report on the desilting plan, with a further assurance that the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) will come out with a detailed plan on the desilting project.
Incidentally, many a sarpanch representing the riverine villages of Assolna, Ambelim, Velim, Cavelossim and Carmona had raised similar concerns over the desilting project, with the sarpanchas urging the Chief Minister to send the detailed project report to the panchayat bodies and explain the salient of the project with a powerpoint presentation.
Says Assolna Sarpanch Xavier Almeida: “We have made it clear during our meeting with the Chief Minister that the government should address the fears and concerns expressed by the traditional fishermen. It is in the fitness of things the government takes all the stakeholders into confidence, including the traditional fishermen before executing the project.”
Carmona Sarpanch Allwyn George and other sarpanchas also echoed similar sentiments, as they made a plea to the government to take the stakeholders into confidence before going about the work of desilting.
