Team Herald

VASCO: Vasco-based environmentalist Advocate Savio Correia has said that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar must give an opportunity to those who were present at the interactive session in Panjim on Monday to seek clarifications and express their views since the meeting ended abruptly. 

Correia expressed confidence that being a statesman, “Parrikar will oblige and will hold another interactive sessions on river nationalisation as many of our questions are still unanswered.”

He said that he was disappointed that the interactive session on Monday ended abruptly, due to which the invitees did not get an opportunity to speak and ask questions. “I felt that it defeated the very purpose of the interaction,” Correia said.

Commenting on the substance of the interactive session, he said, “My take-away from Monday’s interaction is that the government has already made up its mind on the issue and wants to proceed accordingly, come what may.”

He said that the interactive session did not address the questions of, “Why our rivers were included in the NWA? ‘What kind of development and what kind of shipping is envisaged?”

Correia said, “the State Government - taking the strong public opinion into account - can request the Union government to denotify our rivers from the purview of the Act. A resolution of the State Assembly akin to the ‘special status’ one could be considered, if there is a political will to do so.”

Correia informed that on his persistent questioning whether an MoU can supersede or have amending effect vis-à-vis a Central Act, the chief minister admitted that the MoU had not been vetted and approved by the Advocate General of Goa. “To me, such a sensitive document being signed without being vetted by the senior most law officer of the State leaves a lot to be desired,” he said.

Correia said that when questioned whether the national waterways projects would be compulsorily taken up under public-private-partnership (PPP) as decided by Union Cabinet in May 2017, the chief minister said that under the MoU, CoP would decide which projects would be undertaken. The chief minister also reportedly assured that except for ferry services etc, none of the other projects would be taken up on PPP basis.

According to Correia National Waterway development projects include construction of jetties, marinas, landing points, stack yards along river banks. “But the chief minister did not specifically mention these, and my concern remains as to whether these components would be taken up on PPP basis,” he said.

When question on a specific clause in the draft MoU that compromises on the rights of traditional fishermen, he said, “The CM’s response was that although such clauses were there, it did not mean that they would be executed immediately or that fishermen would be displaced.”

However, Correia said, “My concern is that inclusion of such clauses would empower the government to displace traditional fishing rights.”