Team Herald
PANJIM: Protests and placards welcomed those attending the meeting called to explain the tripartite memorandum of understanding (MoU) to be signed between the Captain of Ports (CoP), Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) and Mormugao Port Trust (MPT).
People from different villages, as well as representatives of political parties and NGOs, joined the protests against the MoU. With placards in hands, a few covered their mouths with black masks as a mark of silent protests, and others shouted anti-government and anti-river nationalisation slogans.
Stating that the CoP had invited them to the meeting, Edwin Mascarenhas representing Goa Against Coal said, “We had a number of queries for the Captain of Ports but almost 100 percent of the queries have not been answered by the Captain of Ports. The Chief Minister took the microphone and gave his opinion and his interpretation.”
He further said that the reasoning that it’s an Act by the Parliament and so a fait accompli cannot be accepted. “Without consulting the people, the government had given the clearance to the Central government and that is how this has been notified in the Act of Parliament,” he stated.
A resident of Loutolim, Ramira Mascarenhas, demanded that the six rivers be removed from the list of rivers notified as national waterways. “We don’t want this nationalisation as it is being done for coal and it will affect the lives of our children. They want to finish the future generations, the fishing community and the farmers by destroying the source of their livelihood,” he added.
Olencio Simoes, representing Goencho Raponkarancho Ekvott, threatened that if the government does not take necessary steps to denotify the Goan rivers from the list, then the fishing community would take to the streets and protests.
Stating that 68 percent of the fishing activity is in the inland waterways, he said, “Fishing in Goa is based in the inland waterways and this government by taking over these rivers wants to finish the fishing community.”
