Team Herald
MARGAO: Activists on Tuesday said that the State was misleading Goans about the impact of the recent CRZ notification in view of the missing sand dunes and other irregularities.
Concerns were raised about this impacting the ongoing cases in the National Green Tribunal (NGT) given that the sand dunes have not been recognised and fishing villages and khazan lands not being properly demarcated.
They referred to the letter sent by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) to the State Environment Department, confirming the approval of the Goa’s Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMPs) as submitted by the Goa government and following the recommendations of the NCZMA.
“It is to inform you that all proposals for CRZ clearance shall be considered in accordance with the CRZ maps prepared as per CZMP approved under the CRZ Notification,” reads the MOEF&CC letter.
“This is why the Goa government cannot be trusted. From bowing to Khap Panchayats of other States to what MoEFCC churns out, the Goa Government bows obediently,” said Judith Almeida of the Colva Civic and Consumer Forum (CCCF).
“If what the environment minister was saying was true it should have been reflected in the letter. The Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) operates under MoEFCC,” she added.
“If the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSM) was refusing to accept our ground truthing report it was the State government’s right to file an application to the NGT and not push the burden on civil society. Cabral stands exposed,” Almeida added.
“NCZMA should have rejected the NCSM report as it was aware of the ground truthing exercise that was done and because over 46 lakh square metres of sand dunes are missing in the CZMP plan. The ground truthing was done primarily to confirm all the suggestions and objections raised at the public hearing post the draft,” Almeida added.
Another activist Abhijit Prabhudesai questioned why the individual village CZMPs prepared by the villagers were not accepted and why the port limits have not been denotified.
