Margao: Even as the government is all set to conduct the public hearing on draft Coastal Zone Management Plan for South Goa in Margao with the COVID norms in place, it is expecting over 200 on-spot registrations of speakers on Thursday at the site on the SGPDA ground.
The spot registrations will be permitted between 10 am and 2 pm.
Legal assistant of Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA)
Badal Gaonkar said 12 officials from the GCZMA and Goa State Pollution Control Board will hear the speakers virtually and in physical mode by following the standard operating procedures in view of the pandemic. He said two scientists from the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) will also be present during the public hearing.
“We have sent messages to those who have registered online along with their serial numbers and timings. They will be given a token at the site according to their serial number and allowed inside,” Gaonkar said. Sources said politicians will be allowed to talk on the issue separately.
South Goa District Collector Ruchika Katyal, additional collectors Surendra Naik, Sanjit Rodrigues, deputy collectors and mamlatdars, along with senior police officials of the district, carried out an inspection of the site and the arrangements made on Wednesday.
Spending nearly an hour at the site, the district administration officials and police checked the entry and exit points, inspected the barricaded areas and enquired about Internet connectivity at the site.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Pankaj Kumar Singh explained to the District Collector about the police deployment at the site, while the SP, traffic, briefed her on the traffic arrangement. “A total of 400 police personnel will be on duty at the site of public hearing,” confirmed Singh, speaking to the media later.
Interestingly, the garbage that had piled up at the site was lifted by the Margao municipal council workers on Wednesday. Health officials carried out fogging of the area, while public works department engineers were asked to take up the task of filling up the uneven spots in the pandal area.
The road stretch from old market to Ravindra Bhavan will be restricted for the general public on July 8. Officials of GCZMA and other government officials will be allowed to park vehicles at the SGPDA parking lot, while people coming in from Ponda, Quepem, Curchorem and Sanguem will park their vehicles at the swimming pool parking area. People arriving at the site from Canacona, Cuncolim, Colva, Majorda, Benaulim, Nuvem, Cansaulim, Verna and Vasco have been provided vehicle parking place behind the KTC bus stand and the SGPDA open parking opposite the Osia complex.
Meanwhile, the SGPDA market will remain closed for two days in view of the public hearing. The vendors met the District Collector on Wednesday urging her to compensate them, as the closure of the market would lead to losses. The vendors have also submitted a memorandum to the District Collector in this regard.
After hearing the vendors and urging them to cooperate with the authorities, Katyal assured them that no sooner the public hearing ends, the market will be opened. Earlier in the morning, the vendors agitated and forcefully tried to remove the barricades placed at the site of public hearing.