SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2024
KARSTEN MIRANDA
PANJIM: While several village groups, fishing community, shack owners, environmental organisations and others have been protesting the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP), another local group has taken an interesting approach to the issue that has had Goans at large up in arms.
They have composed and produced a song and a music video that hopes to strike a chord with the sentiments of their fellow natives in the larger interest of saving Goa’s ecologically fragile coast. A common point that all the groups and people have against the CZMP is that the coast and coastal communities will be detrimentally affected in an irreversible manner if the CZMP plan in its present form, is passed by the authorities and becomes a reality.
“We are releasing this music video to raise awareness on behalf of every Goenkar fighting for a transparent ‘Coastal Zone Management Plan’ 21 to protect and save Goa coast for our next generations,” said Sanio Fernandes, ace musician who thought of this concept and also too took charge of all music arrangements of this project.
“The ocean stirs our heart and inspires your imagination and brings eternal joy to the soul. We Goans are blessed to be connected to the ocean. We know we can’t force every Goan to care about our natural environment but if we are able to encourage them to connect with it, they just might,” said another popular singer Nerrisa Cardoso, who was in charge of designing the attire of the musicians in the video.
“Can you imagine a Goa without our beautiful beaches? Will Goa hold the same value in the eyes of the world if our shoreline is destroyed? The Coastal Zone Management Plan is an arrangement to ensure the residents, the public and the government carefully develop and consider this plan by working closely with each other,” says the team while concurring with Sanio and Nerrisa about the video’s aim.
“Our intention of making this video is to join hands with all Goans who are appealing to the government to have the CZMP reviewed and approved at panchayat levels. This will ensure that the coastal zone management plan is specific, accurate, and effective. We are not trying to create a new effort, but we want to join hands with every Goenkar who wants to raise awareness on the need for a more transparent, thorough, collaborative Coastal Zone Management plan. The people of Goa are asking for the CZMP to be reviewed and approved at each panchayat and not the district as has been done currently,” Sanio adds.
“The CZMP states that it needs to be approved in consultation with the public, however, this was not possible in the recently held public hearing due COVID measures and where everyone could not be accommodated inside the chosen venue halls,” the team points out.
“Secondly the CZMP’s first drafts are full of errors and inaccuracies and the reason to consult with the public to bring accuracy becomes even more important,” adds Nerrisa.
The team adds that the video is also dedicated to Goan environment activists like Claude Alvares (Goa Foundation Director) who has given three decades of his life fighting for Goa’s environment.
The team also refers to an interview given by Alvares that was published in a recent Herald Review edition, in which he described ‘severe problems emerging with these (individual and overall) Coastal Zone Management Plans’.
Coming to the song, it has already become a conversation starter amongst the people given that the musicians who are performing in it, have a fan following of their own.
The team thanked all those who were involved and who supported it in all the aspects of the project. The song will be released this Saturday, April 17.
