THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024
Team Herald
PANJIM: Following apprehensions raised by the people that the Port Authority proposed to be constituted under Major Port Authorities Bill may acquire their land shown within port limits under the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP), Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) has recommended removal of port limit depiction from the plan.
GCZMA during its meeting held on March 18 decided to recommend to the Chennai-based National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) to remove the depiction of port limits from the draft CZMP 2011 before submitting it to the National Coastal Zone Management Authority (NCZMA).
“The Authority noted that it is not expressly specified in the guidelines to the CRZ Notification, 2011 that port limits should be depicted in the Draft CZMP,” state the minutes of meeting.
NCSCM is of the view that as per the provision of the CRZ Notification the No Development Zone (NDZ) is not applicable within Port Limits.
GCZMA at its meeting noted that NCSCM had sought notification of port limits from the Department of Environment and consequently, copies of notification of major port limits – Mormugao Port Trust including Betul, and of minor ports Panjim, Chapora, Tiracol, Sal and Talpona – were provided.
“NCSCM has shown the Port Limits in the draft CZMP maps and major and minor ports have both been provided a single colour code thereby creating confusion and doubt among the general public that all the area shown under port limits is major port ie MPT,” the Authority noted.
“Numerous objections and suggestions have been received from the general public on this issue, including apprehensions that the Port Authority proposed to be constituted under Major Port Authorities Bill may acquire their land shown within port limits. Some local bodies have also expressed apprehensions regarding dilution or overlapping of their jurisdictions,” it pointed out further.
Former GCZMA member and NIO scientist Dr Antonio Mascarenhas in an article on Herald, had said that since Mormugao is a major sea port, the draft CZMP 2021 specifies that large areas along the sea front and within the saline rivers will henceforth come under the jurisdiction of the port authority. As such, from Aguada to Cansaulim, and from Varca to Loliem in the south, the sea front will hereafter “belong” to and be classified as the property of Mormugao port.
He had said that Raj Bhavan, Miramar beach, Mandovi river banks up to the tidal flats of Chorao beyond the bridge will be controlled by the port. In the Zuari river, the sea side slopes of Dona Paula including parts of NIO property, Siridao beach, areas upstream of the bridge, Cortalim, Sancoale, Chicalim bays, as is the case of Khariwado fishing enclave, the Sao Jacinto island would in totality fall under the purview of the port. The NDZ of Baina beach and the adjacent rocky cliffs are almost entirely under port limits. The Velsao-Cansaulim-Arossim coast, a linear strip of about 50 metres in width over the dune fields of the entire region is shown as limits of the port control.
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Govt to write to Centre to exempt MPT from Major Ports Bill
PORVORIM: Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco on Friday withdrew his resolution after Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant assured him to incorporate all his suggestions in the letter to be written to the Centre to exempt Mormugao Port jurisdiction from the provisions of Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020.
Lourenco had urged the Houser to unanimously recommend to the Union Ministry of Shipping to exempt Mormugao Port from the provisions of Section 22 (2), 23 and 26 of the Major Port Authorities Bill, 2020 passed by Parliament, considering the small geographical size of Goa and the consequences and impact on public participatory, planned and sustainable development in the State.
Lourenco said that he had written to the Chief Minister urging him to take up the matter with the Government of India and to exempt Mormugao port from the Major Port Authorities Bill. He said that the Bill will give sweeping powers to the MPT Board.
Leader of the Opposition Digambar Kamat said that the Bill will give sweeping powers to the Mormugao Port.
Kamat said that once allotted land, the Central agencies do not obtain necessary permissions and no laws exist for them. They will bulldoze anything, he cautioned.
“House should pass unanimous resolution conveying our feelings over Major Port Authorities Bill to the Centre,” Kamat said.
“We should convey sentiments of the people of Goa to the Centre,” Kamat said recalling that during his tenure he had scrapped the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the interest of Goa and after convincing the Centre the need to scrap them.
The Opposition Leader further cautioned that private players would make forays as the government is now planning to privatise public sector undertakings.
Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao said that the House should unanimously pass a resolution and send it to the Centre. He said that it becomes difficult to take back land once given to Central agencies and cited the examples of Indian Navy occupying Dabolim airport, which according to him, was a civilian airport.
“I was elected as MP twice and once I was nominated as vice chairman of Parliamentary Committee for Defence. I know how difficult it is to unlock defence land. Whenever we tried to do that country’s security concerns came in the way,” Alemao said. He also demanded that the port area shown in the draft CZMP be immediately deleted.
Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte demanded to know what will be MPT’s total area under the new legislation and whether it will have overriding effect on the CZMP.
Santa Andre MLA Francis Silveira demanded that the extended port areas in Zuari river be immediately deleted as it will affect the traditional fishermen.
The Chief Minister said that the Major Port Authorities Bill was a Parliament Act and that the Assembly can only discuss it. He, however, assured members that he will include their suggestions in the letter to be written to the Government of India.
