VASCO: Sancoale Village Biodiversity Committee (SVBC) on Thursday raised very strong objections to the ongoing works of scrapping (cutting) barge in waters at few dockyards located on the bank of River Zuari.
SVBC said that the Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB) has already declared the Sancoale bay as biodiversity heritage hotspot as the same is a breeding ground for the endangered windowpane oysters and hence Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) and other concerned authorities should not allow such activities that could pollute the River Zuari.
“We had received a complaint from a local villager that few dockyards located on the bank of Zuari River have been cutting down barges in the waters, thereby causing high density of pollution in the river. To verify the same, today (on Thursday) we inspected the site and found that at two dockyards the parties were attempting to scrap barge without following environmental norms,” SVBC Chairman Navin Jha said.
Jha said that when questioned the workers at a dockyard whether they had the permission to break barges, he was shown a copy of permission to dismantle the barges granted by GSPCB.
“It is for the authorities to check whether one can allow scrapping of barge in the name of dismantling. But our major concerns is that Sancoale bay has been declared as biodiversity heritage hotspot and the same should be kept protected,” Jha said.
“We are not against their activities but are concerned about the biodiversity of the village and hence we have decided to raise this issue very strongly during our forthcoming biodiversity committee meeting so that the activities that are polluting the marine environment does not happen in future,” Jha said.
