VASCO: Goenchea Ramponnkarancho Ekvott (GRE) has slammed the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) for directing Goa government to identify ten more beaches in the State for ‘Blue Flag’ certification.
GRE General Secretary Olencio Simoes has warned the State government against notifying ‘Blue Flag’ certification of beaches in Goa. He has also asked the government not to “follow blindly, the Western model of development, as those countries have no traditional fishermen, marine resources and natural beaches as most of them are artificial beaches.”
In a press release issued in Vasco, Simoes stated that the ‘Blue Flag’ certification which has to meet 33 criteria for the beaches, marinas, sustainable boating tourism operators, boat owner’s code of conduct, and Sail Training International Code of Conduct so that the beach gets ‘Blue Flag’ certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Order to meet this criteria, he said, the MoEF has further diluted the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) and reduced the No Development Zone (NDZ) to 10 metres from the High Tide Line (HTL).
Olencio said that once the ‘Blue Flag’ certification is notified, then, that area has to meet the 33 criteria laid down by the Foundation for Environmental Education which will block the access to general public, as several list of infrastructural projects need to be constructed to meet the ‘Blue Flag’ certification.
He further claimed that as per the guidelines there will be several zones demarcated like bathing, sailing, boat owners and for marina. “There will be no zone for others, which in short, will completely block the access for traditional fishermen and others using the beach for several centuries,” he said.
