CCP asks govt to bring St Inez creek under CRZ
Illegal constructions to face axe
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JUNE 11
The development around St Inez creek will receive a setback with city fathers requesting the state government to declare it as falling under Coastal Regulatory Zone (CRZ).
Following the directives of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) sub-committee-led by Manohar Parrikar, the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) will be soon writing a letter to the government to notify the creek as part of CRZ.
The CCP on Thursday received the minutes of the sub-committee meeting held on May 6, which passed the resolution to notify the water body as a creek and subsequently as a part of CRZ.
“We are following the directives of the sub-committee. By next week the letter will be sent to the state government over the notification,” a senior CCP official told Herald.
The official said that once it is officially declared, all the rules of CRZ will be applicable. “At later stage, the sight inspection will be carried out to identify all the illegal constructions along the creek which have violated the CRZ norms. The action will be taken accordingly,” official said.
Meanwhile, the North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA) have asked CCP to demarked 5 meters area dotting the creek as ‘no development zone’ under Outline Development Plan (ODP).
“We will be going with the demarcation with the help of NGPDA soon,” official said.
The beautification of St Inez creek project, which will be taken up in three different phases now, has been hanging fire since the time it has been taken up under JNNURM.
As per the first phase DPR, six bridges across the creek will be demolished and re-constructed as part of beautification.
The technical committee of the project including Dr Joe D’Souza and Dr Antonio Mascarenhas have found that the new bridges built across the creek have not been built in consideration of the tidal movement of the water.
“These bridges are obstructing the flow of water. Hence we decided to demolish and re-built it,” Dr D’Souza said.
The above decision has been taken after the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) in a suo-motto letter to CCP and water resources department has asked to check if the creek is affected by the tidal wave movement.
The GCZMA had also said that if there is obstruction in the tidal wave movement, the CRZ rules will be applicable to the surrounding areas of creek.
As part of beautification, the entire stretch of the creek will be desilted in order to permit the free flow of tidal action. The total cost of the project will amount to Rs 30 crores.
