ANDREA FERNANDES
andrea@herald-goa.com
BASTORA: The comunidade of Bastora and Guirim have condemned the on-going highway expansion work, which they say, has made areas of the village vulnerable to flooding during the monsoon period.
While the Bastora comunidade, recently wrote to the GCZMA and PWD, demanding that urgent steps be taken to avoid flooding of the fields and spread of an epidemic, the Guirim Comunidade criticised the ‘systematic and reckless destruction of paddy fields and low lying land bordering the Bastora River and flowing towards Mapusa at the Tar junction’. In the process of this work a portion of the river has also been encroached at least at three places and the surrounding vegetation has been mercilessly engulfed.
Guirim Comunidade President, Tulio de Sousa said the area concerned is a catchment for the hills in the background that drain into these fields during the monsoons and the river serves to carry the overflow towards the northern end with a sluice gate at the south eastern end. “The devastating effects of this ill-conceived plan is bound to be felt by the villages of Guirim, Bastora and Mapusa as flooding looks inevitable. It is unimaginable that technical experts have designed a huge embankment including three badly planned flyovers within a short radium of two and a half km from Tar junction in Mapusa to the Guirim cross junction,” added Tulio.
Last year, the construction of a Raw Water Pumping Station at Guirim for augmentation of a multipurpose tank at housing board, Porvorim was undertaken on the banks of Bastora rivulet branching from the Mapusa River. Locals had alleged that this had violated CRZ norms as the project has encroached in the Bastora rivulet and that the project is built on the banks of the rivulet, diverting it to a great extent.
Former Dy sarpanch and Bastora resident, Andrew D’souza stated that he had written to the GCZMA about the same. “This rivulet also has rich marine life which is affected. The citizens of Bastora are dependent on this fish during monsoon. It looks like the government has no concern for our eco-system and bio diversity of the village,” he added.
Locals further recall how two years ago, some mangroves were being chopped along the highway, which had been opposed and that now, the authority is resorting to setting them ablaze.
“In the last few months it has been witnessed that mangroves have been set ablaze on several occasions along the Bastora stretch. They do not know that these mangroves that are lost in the process of reclamation help in absorbing the excess water. By destroying them the surrounding area will getinundated when there is a flood, said a local resident.
A former NIO scientist and member of the GCZMA, Dr. Antonio Mascarenhas slammed the government agencies carry out CRZ violations despite having national legislations in place.
“We hear of CRZ violations almost every day. Saline and coastal areas are more sensitive to changes compared to the hinterlands. In Goa mangroves have grown to 400 per cent in the last 30 years but that does not mean we should keep cutting it. Due to the highway expansion work mangroves have been destroyed without proper scientific thought at various places without any permission,” said Mascarenhas.
“According to my knowledge the number of mangroves removed should be planted five times the number but where is the place to replant them,” he added.
