SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2024
Team Herald
MARGAO: Irked that the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) notified by the Union Ministry of Environment Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has omitted the ‘mudflats’ of Chicalim Bay, the villagers of Chicalim have called for the lapse to be corrected.
Mudflats are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers.
Rui M Da Costa Araujo, who is also the secretary of the Chicalim Villagers Action Committee (CVAC) brought up this topic at the recent gram sabha meeting.
Based on that, the Chicalim gram sabha unanimously resolved to call upon the Environment Minister and Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to look into the matter on top priority and ensure that the said mudflats at Chicalim Bay are shown and marked on the CZMP for Goa.
The Gram Sabha also called upon the panchayat to explore all legal options in this regard.
“The Mudflats at Chicalim Bay are a critical and rich ecosystem of vital importance to migratory birds, as well as a nursery ground for many crab, mollusks, and fish species. This estuarine tidal mudflat has been well documented by several marine experts and is part of the Chicalim biodiversity heritage site,” said Araujo. He further pointed out that the Supreme Court had recently taken cognisance of the said mudflats in in Civil Appeal no 6786/2022.
Moreover, the GCZMA’s Expert Committee inspected the site in August 2021 and recommended that the mudflats
must be shown on the CZMP 2011 for Goa, yet they were ommitted from the final CZMP.
