VASCO
Mormugao Biodiversity Committee (MBC) Chairman and Municipal Councillor Yatin Kamurlekar said while the Maimolem Lake needs to be saved for posterity, people around the area should not be made to suffer or be inconvenienced.
“It was decided during a meeting of the MBC that Maimolem Lake needs to be saved for posterity to prevent flooding in Vasco and that it should be declared as a wetland. We also forwarded the proposal to the Goa State Wetlands Authority (GSWA)," said Kamurlekar.
"This is the first urban wetland in Goa but there are major issues as of now, including uncertainty regarding land owners and farmers in the buffer zone or the Wetland area.”
Admitting he was unsure of any special provisions in the Act regulating the Urban Wetland, Kamurlekar, however, strongly felt authorities need to save the wetland without inconveniencing the people.
“People should be allowed to build in the area of the buffer zone around the wetland. Many people have spent hard-earned money to purchase land and it will be sad if they cannot do anything on the legally owned land around the wetland,” said Kamurlekar.
“I would also want railway authorities to be invited to the public hearing so that their culvert in the area can be corrected and water can drain out in a smooth fashion."
