Team Herald
MARGAO: After a significant delay, the contentious issue surrounding the declaration of the Cutorim Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) is set to be revisited, with authorities preparing to hear the grievances raised by villagers and concerned associations.
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The Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB) has issued a notice announcing that the Grievance Committee (GSWA) will convene on December 5 at 3.30 PM at the Curtorim Village Panchayat Hall. The committee will re-examine all objections received regarding the proposed BHS.
The meeting will be chaired by retired Judge Desmond D’Costa, the Chairman of the Grievance Committee, along with other committee members. Earlier, the GSBB had prepared a draft notification for the Cutorim BHS and invited objections during a 60-day period. This resulted in several submissions raising concerns about the proposal. In response, the GSBB held a grievance committee meeting on October 21, 2022, to address these objections and attempt to resolve the issues surrounding the proposed site.
Following a meeting held on January 18 of the previous year, the GSBB received further objections, including one from local MLA Reginaldo Lourenco. Lourenco has been a vocal critic, advocating for the scrapping, delimiting, and de-notifying of the BHS. In total, 15 objections were submitted, including those from tenant associations, individuals, and the local MLA.
Prominent objections included a submission from Agnelo Azavedo, who called for the removal of water sports and eco-tourism sites from the BHS plan. Similarly, Shubert Da Costa, president of the Sirgem Add and Angdoi Tollem Tenants Association, also requested the omission of proposed water sports and eco-tourism sites from the plan.
The proposal for the BHS in Curtorim village was first initiated in 2015 by the Curtorim Village Panchayat, which formed a 12-member BHS committee nominated by local residents. The GSBB began the process of declaring the site after receiving recommendations from both the Curtorim Village BMC and the BHS committee.
With the upcoming grievance committee meeting, villagers and concerned groups will have another opportunity to voice their concerns and seek resolutions to the ongoing debate over the proposed Cutorim Biodiversity Heritage Site.
