I am an oceanographer and spend a big chunk of my time at sea. I live in New York City and work at an institution that studies all aspects of our planet’s climate, its health and sustainability. Someday when I decide to hang my gloves, I hope to own a small sailboat and spend my time sailing the rivers and the coast of Goa. I am not alone in my thoughts. I foresee many Goans doing so, and in the near distant future, Goa inevitably becoming the number one destination in India for boat lovers. I am therefore completely in favor of the idea of establishing marinas in Goa, provided their impacts on the environment are minimal. Many have questioned whether this is possible. I do think so because Goa has been blessed with abundant rivers and waterways and with careful site selections, proper planning and minimal environmental degradation, waterfront enclaves are possible.
Two marinas have been proposed for Goa; surprisingly both close to each other; one in the village of Sancoale and the other just across, along the northern bank in the village of Nauxim. The marina in Sancoale Bay is expected to provide berthing and maintenance facilities for 311 boats, while the other in Nauxim Bay, is expected to cater to over 400 boats. Even by international standards, these projects are huge, begging the question whether the River Zuari has the carrying capacity for two such massive projects in the immediate vicinity of each other. Both projects appear to have the tacit support of the State and Central governments who claim that the new projects and the ancillary industries that will grow around them will create much needed jobs for the locals. The proponents argue that these marinas are exactly what Goa needs to take its tourism and hospitality industry to the next level.
So why is there so much opposition to these two projects and for that matter, many other job creating projects such as Mopa Airport or the DefExpo that the government announces? One of the biggest problems is that locals most likely to be affected are seldom consulted before a project is announced. Furthermore Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) for these projects are rarely undertaken in a transparent manner. Most EIA studies are undertaken only after the projects are announced. The final EIA report is rarely placed before local bodies, and the entire process seldom encourages debate or seeks the views of the people likely to be affected.
The former Minister of Environment, Alina Saldanha has gone on record to state that the two marinas would cause irreparable ecological damage to Sancoale Bay’s fragile marine ecosystem, a claim that is vehemently denied by the project proponent based on an EIA report of the site.
The EIA study of the Sancoale Bay was undertaken by the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO). The sampling and measurements cover aspects of the river flow, chemistry as well as the river’s biology, but sadly lacks any account whatsoever of the exceptionally rich flora and fauna within the site of the proposed marina. Instead the report is padded with unnecessary details, bad graphics, inaccurate satellite images and ambiguities.
Terming the destruction by the proposed marina to the habitat of Sancoale bay as minimal and temporary is wrong. Sancoale Bay and the bays in the vicinity are teeming with marine life, and are among the richest and most biodiverse bays along the banks of the Zuari. The shoreline of Sancoale Bay is made up of millions of loose calcareous shells an obvious sign of the abundance of marine life within the bay. The intertidal area is hard and rocky, and low tides expose vast swaths of oyster beds that have flourished on this substratum since time immemorial. Until several years ago, the remains of the shells from a thriving oyster and clam fishing industry were used for making white wash used for painting of the exteriors of homes and religious edifices. Even to this day, the bay is invariably filled with people either collecting clams, picking oyster and crabs or stake net fishing. Locations close to the proposed marina, like Chicalim and Nauxim Bays are breeding beds of window pane oysters, a species declared as endangered and protected under Schedule IV or the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
The construction of the marina will require either dredging or blasting out of existence over 1,00,000 m2 of extremely rich and biodiverse rocky substratum to create 5 m deep berth pockets for 311 boats. Also included in the project is a deeper navigation channel to facilitate entry of boats into the marina which will be sheltered by a tall concrete breakwater. Construction in the river will alter the flow and circulation within the bay and contrary to what the EIA report states, the construction of a tall breakwater and the creation of 5m deep pockets, will lead to development of low oxygen zones preventing recolonization of the bay by benthic life.
Setting up an industry in India requires the project proponent to provide an EIA report. Invariably it is a Governmental or an accredited non-Governmental agency that is contracted at a huge cost to undertake this study. This arrangement invariably makes these agencies beholden to their sponsors and not to the people and the environment that they are expected to protect.
The study by NIO shockingly also makes no mention of the impact the project would have on the surrounding families and their lifestyles, the number of fishermen likely to be affected, the proximity (~700m) to the remains of the Church of our Lady of Good Health, an ASI protected site. There is no mention whether any local bodies were consulted during the conception phase of the project or during the initiation of the EIA essential to the report’s conclusions
I am confident that the proponents of the two marina projects will continue to assess all the pros and cons of their projects, relocate to other areas that can be developed in sustainable, and environmentally less destructive ways. Any future activities planned for these rivers will need careful thought to ensure that we do not exacerbate this unfortunate trend of degeneration of our waterways, and squander what is left of the beautiful environment that makes Goa so special. It is our duty to protect this environment that we have inherited for our children and grandchildren.
Joaquim I. Goes is a Lamont Research Professor of marine biology at the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University
