PANJIM: The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) has issued show cause notice to the Water Resources Department (WRD) as to why a direction should not be issued to demolish the Candolim bundh project and to restore the land to its original condition. The GCZMA has also asked the WRD not to carry out any civil work of whatsoever kind and nature at the site.
The GCZMA issued the show cause notice following directions by the High Court of Bombay at Goa while hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) writ petition filed by the Calangute Constituency Forum through its president Cruz Silveira and represented by their counsel Adv Rohit Bras De Sa.
The Court has also asked the Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB) to conduct a joint inspection of the Candolim bundh project undertaken by the WRD from Nerul bridge to Caculo House at Candolim, approximately 730 metres long and three metres to eight metres in width when traditionally desired width should have been two to six metres maximum, depending whether it is an internal or external bundh.
The team observed that the bundh has maximum mangroves on the inner embankment as compared to the sparse mangroves on the river side. The bundh appeared to be more like a wide road. Looking at the destruction of mangroves and land filling at several locations for the project, the GSBB stated that the mangroves provide ecological services to the community and are an important natural break wall for the Nerul River and its mangrove forests are sentinels of this ecosystem.
