25 Feb 2021  |   06:16am IST

PIL filed for quashing CZMP public hearings

Team Herald

PANJIM: 

Environment activist Abhijit Prabhudesai on Wednesday filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the High Court of Bombay at Goa demanding the quashing of the two district public hearings that have been scheduled for March 7, 2021 on the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan.

Pointing out that there isn’t sufficient time to prepare for the two hearings, Prabhudesai accused the government of trying to speed up the matter in its attempts to take over people’s rights in the affected areas.

Speaking to the media he questioned how the government planned to deal with grievances of over 100 villages in these two single-day hearings. 

“Houses which have not been marked in the Coastal Zone Regulation (CRZ) plan will be marked for demolition. Rivers and khazan lands have been marked as port limits. Fishing rights, mussels, oysters, fish farms etc have not been marked. All these discrepancies have to be corrected,” Prabhudesai said.

He demanded that the government create awareness about their new plan across gram sabhas. He also questioned why the government chose to come up with their new plan that ignored the ‘perfect’ draft CZMP plans that had been prepared by the village panchayats. 

Pointing out that the recent attempts by NGOs to meet the Collector on these issues had not received a desired response from the authorities, Prabhudesai urged the people to come out and help save Goa’s for the future generation.

He said if action is not taken today, then the survival of Goans in the future is at stake and there could be a situation where Goans will struggle for livelihood in their own State or for water and food.