VASCO: The Old Cross Fishing Canoe Owners’ Cooperative Society (OCFCOCS) has threatened to launch an agitation and approach the courts of law if the ambitious plan to develop Vasco bay was put into action. The government had recently unveiled plans to develop the bay by bifurcating it. One part would be given to Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) while the other would be used for development of various facilities, including a new jetty for the Vasco fishing community.
OCFCOCS President Custodio D’Souza stated that the development plan for Vasco bay was against the wishes of the traditional fishermen and that the bifurcation would prevent canoe owners from carrying out fishing activities efficiently.
“We are using Vasco bay for fishing activities since the Portuguese regime. We have around 108 canoes, plus canoe owners from Baina and Desterro also use the Khariwado beach stretch for fishing activities. However, keeping aside these factors and without even consulting the fishing community dependent on Khariwado beach, the government has been planning to bifurcate the bay. If the government forces this project on us, then it should be ready to face the consequences,” said D’Souza.
While recalling the promises made to them by BJP leaders before the last Assembly elections, D’Souza said, “During the Congress regime, the fishing community from Khariwado had launched a massive protest and even stopped operations at MPT for a few days. The then Opposition leader Manohar Parrikar met the aggrieved fishermen and promised to personally ensure that all our issues would be resolved and there would be no threat to our livelihood once the BJP government is formed. To our surprise, the BJP government started threatening our livelihood by proposing to develop Vasco bay without consulting the fishing community that he supported before the elections.”
He continued, “Considering that a large number of traditional fishermen depend on Khariwado beach – from MPT to Hindu crematorium – the government should immediately scrap its plan. We have no objections if the government builds even a 200-meter long jetty for Khariwado trawlers at any other place, but we cannot think of using a limited portion of the beach once the same is bifurcated and shared with MPT. Thus, we have decided to fight to ensure that the government scraps its plan for Vasco bay.”
