VASCO: The Goa State Wetland Authority conducted a public hearing on Thursday regarding the proposal to declare Maimollem Lake as a wetland. A total of 58 citizens, primarily farmers, submitted their suggestions and objections to the Authority during the hearing.
Farmers expressed concerns that declaring the Maimollem area as a wetland would deprive them of their livelihood and their rights to the land.
Mormugao Biodiversity Board (MBB) Chairman and Councillor Yatin Kamurlekar stated that the proposal to declare Maimollem Lake as a wetland was initially made by the Board in October 2020.
Kamurlekar noted that reports by the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) identified fields and the lake as part of the wetland area, which has caused concerns among the local population, including farmers and landowners within the zone of influence and the buffer area. The MBB assured residents that they would be allowed to repair or develop their houses within the buffer zone as per their previous FAR (Floor Area Ratio) and that farmers would be permitted to continue cultivating their farmlands, ensuring that their rights and privileges are protected while also preserving the lake and wetland.
Mormugao councillor Fredrick Henriques explained that the draft wetland notification, which proposes declaring the entire Maimollem stretch as a wetland—from Dactolem to Tanya Hotel, with a 50-metre buffer zone—had caused panic among farmers, tenants, Comunidade members, private field owners, and residents within the buffer zone. He noted that many existing houses are located within the buffer zone, and some landowners have yet to develop their properties. The Outline Development Plan (ODP) had previously shown part of the area as fields and another part as a water body, but the entire stretch is now being considered as a wetland.
Advocate Sherwyn Correia raised two key issues before the grievance cell of the Goa State Wetland Authority. He referenced the NIO report, which stated that Maimollem Lake was composed of 60 percent fallow land and only 13 percent water body, arguing that it does not meet the wetland definition under the Wetland Rules, which exempts paddy fields.
However, officials responded that a study conducted over the past 10 years did not align with his evidence. Environmental activist Savio Correia supported the draft notification to designate Maimollem as a wetland under the Wetland Rules.
