The State Legislative Assembly on Friday expressed serious concern over the escalating sand erosion along Goa’s coastline, attributing the phenomenon to the impacts of climate change.
Several MLAs highlighted that popular beaches like Coco in Nerul are rapidly vanishing, raising fears about environmental degradation and the loss of tourism assets.
Responding to a calling attention motion tabled by Saligao MLA Kedar Naik, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant assured the House that a comprehensive study involving multiple agencies would be conducted and submitted to the Centre to chart out a long-term mitigation strategy to safeguard coastal livelihoods.
Naik pointed out that heavy monsoon activity had washed away significant volumes of sand, sparking concern among local fishermen and tourists.
The erosion, the Saligao MLA said, had left coastal stretches increasingly vulnerable, prompting locals to demand immediate interventions such as the planting of protective vegetation and halting further degradation.
He added that beaches in his constituency — Nerul and Kegdole — as well as those in Canacona like Palolem, Agonda, Galgibaba and Talpona had been severely impacted.
“It is high time that the government should do a scientific study to find out the causes and solutions,” Naik said.
He also informed the House that the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) had conducted a study on Goa’s coast focusing on three beaches—Coco, Ashwem and Talpona—and submitted its report to the Water Resources Department (WRD).
In his reply, the Chief Minister stated that the Department of Environment and Climate Change had commissioned a separate study through the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM), which is in the process of preparing a report on shoreline changes across Goa.
Additionally, Sawant said that Deltares, a Netherlands-based institute specialised in hydraulic engineering research, had been engaged to assess the feasibility of implementing beach nourishment and sand motor technologies as part of the erosion-control strategy.
Several MLAs including Vijai Sardesai, Michael Lobo, Viresh Borker, Venzy Viegas, Nilesh Cabral, Jit Arolkar, and Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao urged the government to act swiftly to arrest further coastal damage.
Sardesai, however, said that the “reality was different” and pointed to the destruction of sand dunes in Morjim and Cavelossim, highlighting ongoing human interference that could be worsening the crisis.