Team Herald
Vasco: National Fish workers Forum (NFF) Vice Chairperson Olencio Simoes and General Secretary of Goenchea Raponkarncho Ekvott represented India at the World Social Forum (WSF) at Helen Joseph St. Newton, Johannesburg South Africa.
At the WSF 90 Countries, 400 trade unions and NGO’s attended the 3-day meeting in South Africa. The main topic of discussion was on Mining, Extractivism and Blue Economy. NFF and others unions protested and marched on the streets of Johannesburg against Mining, Extractivism and Blue Economy.
Olencio Simoes deliberated at the forum with the ill effects of Blue Economy in India which is named as Sagarmala programme. The Sagarmala objectives and plans are only to take over the place of Commons and privatize oceans, rivers and coastline.
In the future Sagarmala plans to displace 10 crore people who are dependent on the natural resources for their livelihood for several centuries. “These plans and mega development are only for private players profits by saving their transportation cost of Rs1.50 paisa per km on road to 30 Paisa per km on water due to this government plans to completely destroy our ecology of 111 rivers that is 20,275 km, 7516 km of Coastline along with 4198 Island will be completely destroyed and this will make our rivers and seas lifeless in the future” Olencio mentioned at the forum meet.
The NFF has alleged that government is going all out undemocratically by diluting environmental policies, by replacing Acts like Inland waterways authority act 1985 to National Waterways Act, 2016 and replacing the Major Port Trust act 1963 to the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2016, diluting the CRZ notification 2011in the form of draft CRZ 2018 notification and bring up several new policies only to facilitate all Sagarmala programmes.
On account of this blue economy plans it was decided that the entire world which is been effected by blue economy plans in their respected country will celebrate world fisheries day on 21st November.
and will protest on Blue Economy as such projects will cause raise in water temperature and will have devastation effects on the land and people and will cause raise in Global warming.
