Team Herald
CANACONA: Terming the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) as “not in the interest of Goans”, All Goa Toddy Tappers Association (AGTTA) on Sunday called for scrapping the same.
AGTTA President Remy Borges told Herald that CZMP “is a disaster to say the least.”
He said that the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management may be affiliated to Government of India with a vision to manage the Indian coast in a sustainable manner, but while drafting Goa CZMPs, they have totally failed.
NCSCM is a Chennai-based research institute under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
Simon Rebello, the president of Canacona Toddy Tappers Association and a former chairman of Canacona Municipality, vehemently said that the toddy tappers, fishermen and other Goan communities are living on the coastal areas of Goa since centuries.
“Our traditional distilleries, store rooms, huts for keep fishing boats, net repair places, traditional footpaths and idol immersion spots are not shown on the CZMPs,” Rebello said.
“The plan smells of a huge conspiracy as the properties on Goan coasts bought by Delhi-based capitalists are marked as settlement zones,” Rebello said with anguish.
“How can the NCSCM by sitting in their office in Chenai prepare plans for coastal areas of Goa?” he questioned.
“AGTTA with over 3000 members spread all over Goa wants the draft CZMPs totally scrapped and we are with our fellow Goans who are opposing it in its current form,” Borges asserted.
