Government of India. According to this report, 14 Coastal Economic Zones (CEZs) have been identified along the coastline of India. Each of these CEZs is mapped to the nearby ports.
The layouts of the proposed CEZs are shown in Exhibit 4.88/page 259 of the above referred report. The CEZ that covers entire Goa also includes areas near Goa-Karnataka boundary, South Maharashtra and the Konkan region extending from beyond Ratnagiri to Goa border. However, in the chart shown on page 260 of the report, the probable districts of the so-called South Konkan-Maharashtra CEZ are Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, North Goa, South Goa. The non-major ports of Dighi & Jaigarh are shown in this CEZ layout along with Mormugao major Port.
Now according to Exhibit 2.34/page 98 of the report, the ports in the southern Maharashtra cluster are Jaigad and Vijaydurg. Why is the port of Vijaydurg deleted from the South Konkan-Maharashtra CEZ? Why are the Dighi, Jaigarh and Vijaydurg ports in coastal Maharashtra not included in the CEZ mapped to the major Navi Mumbai port? There was a need to further boost the cargo business plans for the proposed Navi Mumbai Greenfield International Airport due to the major food processing park proposed at Ratnagiri. Or are there plans to make the proposed Mopa Airport in the tiny state of Goa forcibly feasible by promoting projects of Maharashtra?
The alignment of the proposed Bengaluru-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (BMIC) is shown in Exhibit 4.89/page 262 of the report. This corridor does not pass through Goa. However, it is seen that the alignment of BMIC is passing through the highly eco-sensitive Western Ghats near the North-Eastern geographical boundary of Goa. A major investment hub is proposed on the corridor alignment near the Goa-Karnataka-Maharashtra border. The location of the industrial cluster /National Investment & Manufacturing Zone/SEZ is in the catchment areas of the river systems and rain forests of the Western Ghats . The business plans of the large neighbouring states of Karnataka & Maharashtra for the BMIC projects are closely linked to the construction of Mopa Airport and the required multi-modal transportation hubs and networks in the tiny State of Goa. The implementation of such development plans will have massive negative social & environmental impacts in Goa.
The Sagarmala project report states (refer page 98) that the volume of coking coal is expected to grow with the steel multiplier relative to the GDP to around 9.2 MTPA by 2020, 12 to 14 MTPA by 2025 and 23 to 26 MTPA by 2035. Maharashtra and Karnataka have long coastlines and vast open areas to implement multi-modal transportation plans for the required hinterland connectivity to meet the long-term ambitious growth plans.
Therefore, the existing ports in coastal Karnataka & Maharashtra should be upgraded and modernised. Why should Goa be destroyed for providing road, rail and national inland waterway networks to meet the hinterland connectivity requirements for transporting cargo from Mormugao or the Mormugao extension port at Betul?
