MARGAO: Chandor Cavorim Panchayat has decided to call for an urgent panchayat body meeting to lodge their objections to the Coastal Zone Management Plans prepared by NCSCM following a presentation made by Rainbow Warriors on the anomalies in the plans.
Abhijit Prabhudessai (of Rainbow Warriors) pointed out that the high tide line for rivers have been shown up to 100 mts from the banks of the river while in the Coastal Zone Notification it was mandated to be only half the width of the river.
In Chandor, the Kushawati River is not 200 mts wide to have the HTL at 100 mts while in Guirdolim for a small stretch the Zuari is also not 200 mts wide. “What is astounding is that small estuaries have also been shown to have HTL of 100 mts,” he said.
He argued that the plans were in keeping with the nationalisation of rivers which is aimed at making the Sagarmala project a reality which is proposed to make waterways a means to deliver cargo and more specifically coal which would be required by the factories coming up in Hospet, Belgaum and Bellary.
It was also pointed out that the chief minister continued to maintain that people have to lodge their objections on July 7 at the public hearing and that till a notification is issued cancelling the public hearing the claims made by the government could not be relied upon.
Following the presentation, the villagers that included members of the Village Development Committee, Garbage Management Committee and panchayat members, said that the panchayat has to object to the plans.
However, as all the panchayat members were not present, it was decided to call for an urgent panchayat meeting to decide on the matter.
