Team Herald
MARGAO: Stating that the wrong depiction of sand dunes will have a long term consequences on the people owning lands to make use of it, Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao urged the Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant to scrap the proposal to notify Velsao to Cavelossim coastal belt as sand dunes.
On Saturday, addressing the media persons at his Varca office, the Benaulim MLA alleged that environmentalist Claude Alvares and few officers who are outsiders are involved in destroying Goa and the tourism industry.
In a letter to the Chief Minister, Churchill stated that on the draft CZMP-2011 the demarcation of existence of sand dunes from Velsao to Cavelossim belt of the western coast of Goa is erroneously recorded.
“The assigned experts came with a fixed mindset and wrongly defined sand dunes on the entire coastal belt from Velsao to Cavelossim. This is arbitrarily done to please some NGOs and if allowed to be finalised this will prevent even beach shacks from being put up in private properties,” the MLA claimed.
Churchill further alleged that the very definition of sand dune is defined to suit the NGOs agenda to kill tourism on the coastal belt.
“We even have man-made sand dunes in this area which have been misinterpreted and misrepresented by the expert committee. The members deputed for the ground reality verifying/truthing exercise lack the necessary qualification, expertise as well as experience and exposure in dealing with this sensitive issue as both the experts are from legal and other background,” he stated.
The MLA has urged the Chief Minister, besides Environment Minister and Fisheries Minister to take a serious note of the above information of sand dunes.
He also lambasted the environmentalist Claude for trying to destroy the livelihood of the fishing community after mining closure.
Churchill is of the opinion that once the coastal belt is notified as sand dunes, no one will be allowed to carry out any activities, including shack business and fishing.
