Team Herald
VASCO: Goenchea Ramponkaranchea Ekvott (GRE) has strongly opposed Water Resources Department (WRD) project of undertaking anti-sea erosion and protective measures over a stretch of one kilometre at Kante-Baina, Vaddem in Dabolim and Velsao and Arossim in Mormugao by putting concrete tetra-pods and building flood protection walls along the banks of River Sal and River Kushawati.
GRE joint General Secretary Olencio Simoes said that the “process is anti-fishermen and anti-environment as using concrete tetra-pods will further deteriorate the coastline and will lead to more destruction of the coast.”
Simoes said that the coastal ecosystems store and cycle nutrients, filter pollutants from inland freshwater systems and also help to protect shorelines from erosion and storms. Salt marshes support a diversity of plants, animals, and insects crucial to the food chain of the beach ecosystems.
“Concreting of the coast will increase the vulnerability of the coastal communities to cyclones, tsunamis and climate change due to the destruction of the sand bars and dunes,” he said.
He said that the large tracts of fresh water turning saline, the sandy beaches which act as filters will be destroyed, as seawater will ingress into the ground water aquifers.
Baina Ramponkar and Fishing Canoe Owners Society (BRFCOS) general secretary Sajit Shaik said that the concrete tetra-pods will only condense the flow of nutrients and sediments into the sea, thereby destroying the spawning ground of fish.
Shaik said that the concrete tetrapods/structures would add obstructions to the flow of sand and trigger further erosion down the already fast eroding coast of Baina coast.
“It has been clearly recognised that this approach in not only costly as it becomes an ongoing process due to the sinking of existing rock structures and an unending need for more concrete tetra-pods/structures. In the long run it will cause serious damage to the coastline and will cause inconvenience to the fishermen as concrete tetra-pods will obstruct our space to carry our fishing activities like pulling our canoe and storing our nets,” he said.
