Photo:
Rozario Estibeiro
What
lies underneath: A
scenic shot of the Mandovi
River
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Water
is as essential as breathing for every living organism and yet we
fail to understand the need for clean water bodies. March
22 is observed as World
Water Day
in order to focus
attention on the importance of freshwater and advocate for the
sustainable management of freshwater resources. In Goa, this day will
be celebrated by Goa ForGiving
with
a flotilla of
catamarans sailing in the River
Mandovi along
with kayaks to highlight the issues of water pollution and the damage
the under construction bridge will cause to the environment.
Armando
Gonsalves,
founder of Goa ForGiving,
has planned the day to give an insight into the current pollution of
the river. “Karnataka is illegally threatening to go ahead with the
diversion of waters of River Mhadei, thus threatening to affect the
flow of river Mhadei in Goa. This has become a very dangerous
situation for Goa, and on World Water Day,
we have decided to take this situation headlong. We
are taking a flotilla of kayaks and catamarans from the mouth of the
Campal Creek,
also known as
the St
Inez
Creek, in our programme ‘Save
the Waters of Goa….. Campal to Mhadei’.
These trips are to educate people about the water bodies and we are
hoping schools and colleges will adopt water
bodies near
their campuses. There will be around 10 kayaks and 4-5 catamarans
and we also welcome traditional fishermen to join us in this
initiative,” says Armando,
who has Regatta Champion
Mark Butt with
him on this awareness campaign.
Green
Activist, Dr Claude Alvares
explains how the Campal Creek itself can be maintained as a tourist
spot with its good scenic background:
“In origin, the Campal Creek is a tidal creek which is degenerated
into a ‘nullah’
but if the water is cleared, nature will restore it back to its
beauty. The same creek can be later used for boat trips and a
background for cafés. Who
wouldn’t like
to sip a cup of tea sitting by the creek?”
He
further adds, “For the construction of the new bridge, 247
mangroves were killed. The river already has 40 existing pillars of
the two previous bridges and four more will be added of the new
bridge. The riverbed already has industrial waste of the bridges and
there will be a huge environmental impact following
the third bridge with the build up of sediments on both sides of the
bridge.”
Heritage
Activist
Prajal
Sakhardande was one
of the founding members of the Mhadei Bachao Abhiyan of
1997 and with
the hearing with
regard to the
Mhadei river slotted
for April 27,
2016,
he requests more Goans to support this cause. “We,
along with the whole
of Goa,
want to save the Mhadei
and we have to
send out a strong message. Mhadei
is known by various names in various regions and the
Campal Heritage Creek is a small tributary of Mhadei river,
yet it is
degraded to being called a ‘nullah’.
The Mhadei is the lifeline of Goa and the supply of freshwater will
stop and taps will run dry if the water is diverted,” informs
Prajal.
Architect
Tallulah D’Silva
says that we need to be more self sufficient when it comes to
conserving water and it is time to start cleaning our traditional
wells. “We use tap water for everything;
that’s not right.
We
face water shortage despite natural resources. Panjim
itself having
three springs
–
Boca de Vaca,
Tiguranchi Bain and Fonte Phoenix
– which can
be used by the community. These water bodies can be maintained and
estuaries and creeks should be revived,” says Tallulah.
Gabriella
D’Cruz, a
professional diver, recently took a dive to study the effect of
pollution at the coral reefs at Grand Island. “It is important that
the youth get involved in such initiatives as we will inherit Goa
with more problems in the future.
We have to
take on the reins from people who are already fighting for a brighter
Goa. The disruption in freshwater supply is affecting the the coral
reefs at Grand Island which is polluted with nutrients with a build
up of algae on the coral reefs. The coral reef
in Goa, which
most
Goans are
not even aware of, is
important for the fish spawn which
in turn gives
better fish stock,”
she adds.
(‘Save
the Waters of Goa…
Campal to Mhadei’ will be held today, March 22, 2016 from 9am
onwards with
Children’s
Park, Beach head, Campal
as the meeting point)
