MARGAO: Goenchea Ramponkarancho Ekvott (GRE) has opposed the development of five rivers for water transportation on the grounds that it will affect several thousand fishermen and their families, who are dependent on the rivers for their livelihood.
GRE president Agnelo Rodrigues pointed out that 47 villages in Goa are into inland fishing. He said, “The number of fish and shellfish is low because of turbidity in the water, increased sedimentation and oil, and iron and manganese pollution. Due to loading, transporting and reloading at the port or mid-stream in giant ships, there is abundant spilled-over ore material in the estuaries of the rivers Zuari and Mandovi.”
He continued, “Shipbuilding industries on the shores of both rivers have contributed to the trace metals, and thus, the rivers are unsafe for water sports and fishing due to high level of coliform bacteria. We demand that the development of these inland waterways be scraped in toto.”
Rodrigues appealed to Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado not to go ahead with the dredging project. Instead, he pushed for reconnecting rivers with their floodplains in places where it was safe to flood. GRE members also claimed that dredging could cause the river sides to collapse and lead to floods in the neighbouring villages.
GRE Joint Secretary Olencio Simoes, strongly criticized the Central government for the sponsored dredging and beautification of river Sal, at a cost of Rs 200 crore.
He informed that dredging would disturb the aquatic ecosystems and that soil deposits in any water-body had a certain pre-disposed composition. He said, “The turbidity of the soil under the water also changes because of this alteration in the underwater soil composition. This poses problems by way of creation of new and harmful organisms, transferring of unwanted organisms to other parts in the water-body, leading to a wider spread of contamination by way of release of extra and unwanted nutrients.”
Simoes also claimed the dredging would destroy hundreds of species of fish, amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles. He added, “This will amount to a CRZ violation as mangroves will be destroyed along with coral reefs, turtle nesting grounds, horse-shoe crab habitats, sea grass beds, mudflats, bird nesting grounds, among others. Setting-up of ports, docks, golf courses, marinas, oceanarium, etc, will completely destroy the environment.”
He felt that the inland fishermen, who depend on perennial rivers, seasonal rivers, lakes, ponds, pools, back waters and lagoons, would be the biggest losers. He said, “The habitat of traditional fishermen and traditional fishing activities will be disrupted due to expansion ports, harbours, terminals, etc.”
