Team Herald
VASCO: The Village Panchayat of Quelossim on Thursday conducted a joint site inspection on the illegal activities carried out at a park project in Quelossim by a private proponent.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Speaking on the occasion, Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha said, “This project is totally illegal and does not have any permissions. This fact is substantiated by documents from the Land Survey Department which clearly states that the concerned survey numbers fall within the No Development Zone.”
“However, I have just come to know that, three to four months later, the same officer from the Land Survey Department issued another letter to the proponent stating that the said survey numbers are partly beyond NDZ. Now the question is that has the environment of the area undergone changes for the zoning to change?” asked the MLA.
“Further, the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) inspection reports dated February 17, 2017 and June 21, 2019, clearly state that the vast wetland (khazan land) in Quelossim village, located along the Zuari River is a NDZ.”
“The same report also speaks of the illegalities indulged in by private proponent viz filling up of the low lying khazan land, pumping out of water from the area by using a high capacity pump, widening of the bundhs, blocking of the sluice gates with dumped murrum/mud which has resulted in the stoppage of tidal water flow thereby interfering with the circulation of riverine water to the khazan land leading to putrefaction, etc, etc,” she added.
