VASCO: The Khariwado based Old Cross Fishing Canoe Owners Co-operative Society Ltd has requested the Chairman of the South District Disaster Management Authority to step in by using the power vested under the Disaster Management Act. They would like the agency appointed by MPT to carry out a study and submit a report on the existing length, depths at the outer navigational channel, inner navigational channel, two turning circles, approach channels from turning circle to berths and depth alongside berths at MPT.
In a letter to the Chairman of the South District Disaster Management AuthoritySouth Swapnil Naik who is also the district collector South, the OCFCOCSL president Custodio D’Souza said that Marine Department of MPT have issued a notice informing various port users that work of geo-physical survey of the navigational channels of Mormugao Port has been awarded to CSIR NIO. They will carry out bathymetric and side scan sonar survey of the outer navigational channel, turning circle and approaches to berths 5A 6A and 7. The work is proposed to be carried out for 15 days with effect from May 13, 2017.
He therefore requested the SDMMA Chairman to use the powers and ask the same agency appointed by MPT to also provide details of existing length, depths of outer, inner, approach channels and confirm whether the MPT had already achieved its target of 19.4 meters depth by taking up capital dredging without obtaining Environmental Clearance and whether the public hearing on dredging was conducted only to fool the citizens.
“”The citizens had proved during the recently held public hearing as to how capital dredging was undertaken by MPT and/or their concessionaires without any EC or under the garb of maintenance dredging. Also the fact of extension and deepening of an additional 4.5 km length of the outer channel was admitted by MPT not only in the half-yearly compliance report submitted to Regional Office MoEFCC but orally by their officers present at the public hearings”, said D’ Souza.
He further mentioned that in course of the public hearings of the third project i.e. “re-development of berth 8, 9 and barge berths”, it was conclusively proved by the speakers that capital dredging for the project could not be done in isolation and that this dredging was intimately linked to capital dredging of navigational channel and shared a common boundary.
