Team Herald
MARGAO: Curtorim’s long-awaited Biodiversity Heritage Site (BHS) declaration moved closer to fruition as the Grievance Committee, chaired by retired Judge Desmond D’Costa, agreed on revising the plan to incorporate villagers’ concerns. The meeting, which was attended by Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco, tenant associations, and local residents, sought to address objections and finalise a community-approved plan.
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Originally proposed in 2015 by the Curtorim Village Panchayat, the BHS declaration has been a collaborative effort involving a 12-member committee nominated by the villagers, the Curtorim Village Biodiversity Management Committee, and the Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB). However, discrepancies in the draft plan, such as inaccurate mapping of water bodies and improper naming of lakes, have delayed progress.
Villager Oswald Fernandes raised these issues during the meeting, stressing the need to preserve the original names of the lakes and improve the mapping of water bodies to reflect local realities. MLA Lourenco echoed these sentiments, urging authorities to rectify errors swiftly and proceed with the notification process. “It’s time to move ahead with the process, but only with a corrected plan and approval from the people,” Lourenco remarked.
Contributions from other attendees, including Agnelo Azavedo, Milagres Menezes, and Avinash Tavares, highlighted a shared commitment to aligning the plan with community expectations. The revised blueprint is expected to mark a crucial step in environmental preservation efforts, balancing ecological importance with local cultural values.
Earlier, the farmers and traditional custodians of the water bodies within the BHS said they were not consulted adequately. The locals also objected to the use of the term ‘wetland ecosystem’ in the BHS proposal, as they feared it may lead to the declaration of water bodies as notified wetlands, imposing restrictions on water usage and limitations on construction activities for farmers in the vicinity.
