ANJUNA: The Anjuna-Caisua Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) spotted several errors in the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) of Anjuna.
The BMC members visited the area between Baga-end and Chapora River to verify the correctness of the CZMP and found several errors in the map, on Wednesday.
Later, they visited the fishing communities of Chapora village and explained to them the effects of the draft plan on the area.
It came to light that some buildings along the coast have not been shown in the plan. The High Tide Lines (HTL) are much higher to the landward side than marked on the map. At the same time many seaward constructions are seen within the intertidal zone. During the inspection, it was also seen that rocks and some sea walls are missing and some of the latter has been misrepresented as rocks. The committee also spotted that there are proposed transfer stations and cleaner cabins coming up for which there is no clarity on the purpose of the structure. The fishing village of Chapora is not marked in the map.
A member of the Anjuna- Caisua Bio-diversity committee, Mariano Fernandes said that they have made a note of their observations and suggestions and will be submitting the same to the Environment Minister.
“The fishing village of Caisua is not marked in the map. We will be seeking clarification on the various errors we have observed in the maps for Anjuna-Caisua. We will also demand clarification on the transfer station marked. The findings have been conveyed to the fishing community members and all have agreed to raise the concerns. It was decided to convene a meeting soon,” Fernandes said.
Another error spotted was that only the inner walls of the Chapora Fort has been marked under CRZ-1 and few rocks towards the seaward sides are missing. The area where the fishing boats are stationed is marked as mangrove area. The BMC chairman stated that the area had mangroves before which sounds that the area might be marked for restoration. It’s up to the people to go for restoration or to keep the boats on the Chapora bay. But, for the former, the government has to find out alternate land for the boats.
