Team Herald
CANACONA: Fishermen from Palolem ward gathered in large numbers on Wednesday to oppose construction of a temporary crossover made of bamboos over Palolem creek.
Later in the day, Deputy Collector of Canacona after inspection of the site held a joint meeting with the party responsible for the attempted construction of the bridge and the other stakeholders.
When the word spread that a private person was making an attempt to connect the two banks of Palolem rivulet creek, by using bamboos for movement of pedestrians, fishermen from the Palolem village swarmed to the site on Wednesday morning.
After the Deputy Collector of Canacona Vikas Kamble who incidentally is also the chief officer of Canacona Municipality was alerted, he along with the local councillors, vice chairperson and chairperson of municipality visited the alleged bridge construction site and conducted an inspection.
Speaking to the media, Kamble said that prima facie it looks like an illegal activity as the party concerned doesn’t have permissions either from the municipality or from Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) for constructing the crossover.
He further added that he has convened a meeting of the party responsible for this activity and the leaders of the fishing community in the presence of the local councillors, Vice Chairperson Hemant Naikgaonkar and Chairperson Nitu Desai of the Canacona Municipal Council.
Local councillors Dayanand Pagi and Divakar Pagi said that the construction of the pedestrian bridge was being done during the low tide in the intervening night of Tuesday and Wednesday.
“If this temporary bridge is permitted then there won’t be free movement of fishing boats from the sea to this creek which is used for anchorage and other purposes,” Divakar Pagi said.
Sources said that the deputy collector later during the meeting in his chamber of the affected parties ordered to remove the bamboos from the river bed and make the rivulet free from any obstruction.
