Team Herald
Vasco: Goenchea Raponnkarancho Ekvott (GRE) along with four other affected fishing organisations submitted a letter of objection to R. Menaka, IAS,Collector North demanding for the cancellation of the announced public hearing on November 2, 2019. They have also requested that a fresh EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) in accordance with EIA notification of 2006 , as the entire draft EIA has been allegedly prepared without Goa Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP).
GRE’s General Secretary, Olencio Simoes stated that MPT behaves like an independent State and leases out the entire 1 lakhs square metre Water Spread Area of village Cacra allegedly without any prior permission from the local administration to a private builder, to build India’s first biggest Marina of 239 berths, which will accommodate yachts having a length of 50 metres in length.
To facilitate this, GRE claimed that the dredging for the berths and channel, will be conducted in large quantity of almost more than 3,00,000 m3 and that such a mega project, will be completely destroying the entire bay of Nauxim beach at Cacra.
GRE further demanded that the Collector books the consultant for suppressing facts and preparing the draft EIA allegedly without the approved CZMP from the State and Center. “On the contrary, the consultant has hired the Institute of Remote Sensing, University from Chennai, to demarcate the HTL (High Tide Line) and the LTL (Low Tide Line), which is completely illegal, as the CRZ notification 2011 in its annexure I, states that the HTL and the LTL should be finalised only after the public hearing and after getting NOC from the State and Center,” said Olencio.
GRE also hit out at the Goa State Pollution Control Board for not verifying the facts and blindly holding the public hearing.
