The Detailed Project Reports (DPR) to expand and upgrade the Cortalim jetty and three other jetties in the State were ready way back in 2012, but the State govt is yet to start the process to upgrade the Cortalim jetty despite a number of assurances in the past.
Once a bustling jetty, the Cortalim jetty, which lies alongside the RND’s ferry ramp, now looks more like a dump yard for condemned vessels.
A visit to the jetty will display battered vessels, broken wood and metal pieces floating in the water. The fish landing shed has now turned into a fish net mending shed.
Admitting that the jetty has been neglected, Cortalim panch Raymond De Sa, who is a trawler owner, attributed it to the lack of logistics in place at the jetty.
“We don’t get diesel subsidy, no water facility and no fish merchants in the jetty, as is the case in Vasco or Malim. Some trawlers owners who have registered their vessels in Vasco or Malim now park their vessels at Cortalim jetty since the waves are strong at those jetties and it could damage their vessels,” said De Sa.
“The jetty also does not have a draft, so a lot of dredging will have to be done to make it operational. The jetty is a white elephant as the panchayat has been spending on its maintenance with no income.”
Asked whether the Cortalim Jetty could now be developed given that the State govt is pushing to upgrade it, De Sa replied: “The govt will have to get a NOC from the panchayat.”
Incidentally, two gram sabha resolutions in 2009 and 2013 have gone against the proposed expansion/upgradation of the jetty. The locals fear that jetty will invite migrants, which will result in spreading of diseases, apart from crimes which has been a contentious issue in those villages which have jetties.
Herald had raised this issue when Fisheries Director Sharmila Monteiro and Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado were present at a keel-laying foundation for a Fisheries Dept trawler at Cortalim in March.
Monteiro had stated that her dept had all the clearances, except an NOC from the Cortalim-Quelossim Panchayat, but said that this NOC “would be obtained.”
The director informed that the plan is before GSIDC to execute the work and added that the work would start.
Asked whether the panchayat’s NOC had been obtained, the director said that the dept would apply for it.
But when brought to her notice that the panchayat had already rejected the proposal, the director said that it was a govt project and that her dept would apply afresh.
According to 2012 estimates, the expansion of the Cortalim jetty was to cost Rs 4.5 crore and the project was aimed at accommodating around 35 fishing vessels. The project included the construction of a jetty (85m x 6m) and other landside logistics.
Then director of fisheries N Verlekar had told Herald that once the Central government sanctioned the grants, the department would go ahead and upgrade the Cortalim jetty along with the Cutbona, Malim and Chapora jetties.
Verlekar has also said that the consultant who prepared the DPRs would soon send its representative to Goa to obtain the CRZ and other clearances.
