VASCO: The canoe owners from Khariwado, Baina and Desterro along with Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott (GRE) on Monday demanded that the proposed Vasco bay development plan by Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) should be scrapped immediately.
The demand was made during a press conference which was organised jointly by the members of Old Cross Fishing Canoe Owners Co-op Society Ltd (OCFCOCSL), Baina Ramponkar and Fishing Canoe Owners Society (BRFCOS), Desterro Fishermen Association (DFA) and Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott(GRE) at OCFCOCSL office in Khariwado on Monday.
“Recently, MPT Chairman I Jeyakumar made a press statement that the state government should expedite the process of public hearing for the proposed fishing harbour project at Vasco bay. We all fishermen now unitedly demand that the MPT Chairman and Goa government should immediately scrap the project as in name of fishing harbour; MPT is actually trying to construct two new berths out of which one berth will be used as POL berth and we will not allow this to happen. If at all MPT is keen to give full-fledged fishing jetty to Vasco fishermen then they should allocate the vacant Berth No 9 to Vasco fishermen and this will resolve all issues,” OCFCOCSL president Custodio D’ Souza said.
He said, “I feel the MPT chairman is lying as one hand he says MPT is going through losses and on the other hand, he wants to invest Rs 100 crore for the project. The proposed fishing harbour project will completely destroy our remaining sandy beach, which is of hardly 350 metres and thereby displacing landing point of the traditional fishermen of Khariwado, Baina and Desterro. At present, the water depth at the proposed fishing berth area is (-) 2.5m (average).The proposed project plans to dredge the Vasco bay by depth of (-) 15 metres will not only lead to vanishing of Khariwado beach but our houses will be washed away due to continuous annual maintenance dredging”.
GRE general secretary Olencio Simoes said, “I don’t know the logic behind constructing a new jetty for Vasco fishermen by dividing the Vasco bay into two. Why not MPT upgrade or expand the existing fishing jetty as there is enough space and scope for expansion. The Google Earth satellite images indicate that sand is found only on the eastern half of the coastal strip at Khariwado and western part is in grip of chronic erosion, sand starvation and in turn causes disequilibrium of coastal process and this is because of unsustainable development and continuous maintenance dredging done in the navigational channel by MPT.”
“Also when Berth No 11 was constructed in 1990s, the area was deepened to 13 metres due to which the beach sand got drained into the channel and this process is leading to beach erosion. We all jointly demand that MPT, State as well as Central government should immediately scrap the figure pier jetty at Khariwado bay and should modernise and expand the fishing jetty near Berth No11, failing which we will be forced to come on the streets.”
