Team Herald
MARGAO: The people of Curtorim have to wait more in order to see their village to be declared as Goa’s first Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) as the ground truthing process of the areas is yet to be completed by the concerned department.
“The process of ground truthing is not yet completed but the Board along with the Survey Department is working hard towards the proposal,” said Predeep Sarmokadam, Member Secretary of Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB).
It may be noted that the above procedure was held up due to non-submission of final area maps by the Village Panchayat of Curtorim. And hence, the GSBB had given seven days’ time to the panchayat in the month of October. Taking serious note of the issue, panchayat was active enough to submit the required documents but now the declaration is being held up due to non-compilation of ground truthing of the area by the Survey Department.
Earlier, the process of notifying Curtorim village as a Biodiversity Heritage Site was pending for nearly two years for not submitting a final approved plan from the Curtorim Panchayat. However, now the delay in notifying the same has disheartened many villagers. The village would be the first to get such recognition in Goa, under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
Reacting to the same, J Santano Rodrigues, chairman of Curtorim Biodiversity Committee said that this delay is heading towards defeating the sole purpose of protecting the heritage biodiversity of Curtorim.
“We have shown only existing areas of biodiversity and not any new ones. And hence, it should have been yes or no, from the Goa State Biodiversity Board. The ground truthing and that too at the final stage clearly shows the less dedication of the Board towards the proposal,” he alleged.
Santano further said that the Survey Department should have all the details of the area, as the ground truthing of the identified biodiversity at the final stage is totally unacceptable.
“We the villagers of Curtorim were hoping to see the village as the first Biodiversity heritage site,” he stated.
He informed that the Curtorim Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) in its proposal included six big lakes of the village — Mai Tollem, Gud Tollem, Angddi Tollem, Ralloi Tollem, Sonbem Tollem and Colomba Tollem — along with associated khazan areas, mangroves and agro-ecosystems as the extent of BHS, which are existing ones and not new.
“The proposal has pointed out that the village has a long standing legacy of rich natural and cultural heritage. However, slowly with development we can notice metamorphosis that would erase the rich culture of biodiversity,” he said.
