Only last Sunday hundreds of people protested the proposal of setting up a marina at Nauxi, in St Andre Constituency. While local MLA Francis Silveira, gauging the people’s pulse, decided to call on the chief minister asking the latter to scrap the project in his constituency, there was another minister, who appears to be eager to garb the opportunity of a marina in his constituency.
Waste Management Minister Michael Lobo, who also is the Calangute MLA, has welcomed the project in his constituency stating that his is a tourism-dependent constituency and any such project is welcome. He, however, added the rider that the project is welcome only if the people are panchayats are ready for it. Within no time of the announcement of the minister, locals from Calangute and elsewhere were quick to offer comments and criticise the minister on social media.
While it is agreed that Calangute constituency is dependent on tourism, one has to also look at the available resources and infrastructure in the villages that make up the constituency. During the peak season, despite widening of roads there are massive traffic jams, a shortage of power and water. Inviting a project like a marina would mean bringing small ships or yachts with tourists, adding to the people inflow. Does the constituency have infrastructure for such a venture?
Also the areas where the minister is talking about at Baga and Sinquerim river, are rivers that would require dredging and huge tracts of agricultural land would be needed to make an artificial channel for the vessels. The minister went further and said that the marina can be on an artificial pontoon and temporary structures of rooms and bio-toilets. Does this make sense? Is there an understanding of what a marina entails?
A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters. Marinas may be located along the banks of rivers connecting to lakes or seas and may be inland. They are also located on coastal harbours (natural or manmade) or coastal lagoons, either as standalone facilities or within a port complex. A marina may have refueling, washing and repair facilities, marine and boat chandlers, stores and restaurants. A marina may include ground facilities such as parking lots for vehicles and boat trailers, slipways (or boat ramps) to transfer a trailered boat into the water. A marina may have a travel lift, a specialised crane used for lifting heavier boats out of the water and transporting them around the hard stand. A marina may provide in- or out-of-water boat storage. What all this means is that there would be requirement of large land areas for the project.
The fisherman and locals of Nauxi are opposing the move to bring in a marina as it will affect the traditional fishing and hit their livelihood. The villagers also fear it will change the demography of the village. If the project is shifted to either Candolim or Baga, the problems and issues would be similar. Will the fishing community from Candolim and Baga allow such development? The sentiments expressed by the netizens reveal that the minister has neither taken the villagers into confidence nor the local authorities like the panchayats. With a little over a year for the elections, the Sawant government would do better staying away from any such kind of controversy as it is has problems aplenty on its plate.
