Team Herald
PONDA: Ponda locals fear that they might be vulnerable to adverse effect of climate change ensued by global warming if tree cutting and leveling of hills are not stopped in Curti. They assume that landslide in Sattre village of Sattari was a warning bell for the State.
They are sure enough that if the forest covered hills are not saved from construction activities now then it’s inevitable that future of Ponda, Curti would have to bear the nature’s wrath.
There is a need to save the present houses on hills and also not to permit further chopping of hills and cutting trees on the hills.
The name Ponda (populary knows as Fonya which is derived due to its crater-like geographic location) is like a huge crater surrounded by the hills.
Since past many decades, slowly but steadily, several residential projects came up on the Khadpaband Hill. Khadpaband ward in Ponda is susceptible to climate change, heavy rainfall or other geographic dislocation. Curti too might be fated to dire effects of heavy rainfall.
The is imminent as the houses are constructed on the top of the hill, at the slope of Khadpaband and almost a dozen of internal lanes with dead ends have houses in both the sides. One road passing over Khadpaband hill exits at Kavlem–Bandora jurisdiction. There are places over Khadpaband hills that are yet to be exploited by real estate constructors.
Viraj Sapre, a social worker, said government needs to protect the hills and also take measures to save houses on hill slopes and prevent any untoward incident in future due to climate change.
Local environmentalist Sandeep Parkar, who was felicitated for his work by the government, said he had filed at least a dozen of complaint with Deputy Collector and Town and Country Planning (TCP) offices against hill cutting. He said settlement on hills by cutting the trees or leveling the slopes makes loosen the soil on the hills and that cause landslides or landslip.
He said that there was one amendment in TCP Act few years ago, which implies that government works for construction of public crematoriums are permitted on hilly areas.
He cited how Deepnagar Hill has been leveled for crematorium land. Similarly the mud of chopped hill here was also used for highway construction. At the base of the chopped hill there is a residential colony. “Nobody can say hills in Ponda are safe due after chopping and tree cutting. There has been agitations in past at Priol and Curti to save hills. Similarly, while construction of NH at Kerya there was vertical hill cutting that led to major landslides and forced the authorities to close NH for several days. Still the Kerya-Khandepar roadside is risky for locals,” said Parkar.
Similarly there has been massive hill cutting on Dhavlim-Farmagudi road making the entire hill bare to bear climate change. Sandeep said in order to protect from nature’s fury we must protect the trees on hills and save them from chopping and replacing them with real estate ambitions.
