‘Preventing land filling critical for flood prevention’

Panaji: With the extensive landfilling in the Merces khazan triggering furore over the continued destruction of eco-fragile land recently, activists, comunidade leaders and citizens petitioned the authorities over various issues, food security, action against government departments, and flood prevention.
The damage was discovered a few months after it was done and parts of paddy fields, water bodies and mangroves were destroyed in the reclamation of land owned by Morombi O Pequeno comunidade of Merces in the Mandovi flood plain.
A total of 247 Concerned Citizens of Goa (CCoG), the Merces comunidade and Revolutionary Goans have sought action on various fronts.
“It is also critical to preserve our food security for our future generations and protect the health of our fisheries and biodiversity through a balance between the eco-system and human needs,” the CCoG memorandum stated.
The reclamation with plastic, construction debris and asphalt debris in eco-sensitive mangroves, is likely to leach toxic substances into cultivable land and water, impacting livelihoods in future. Goa’s dependence on other states for its food requirements and crisis due to disruption in supplies is well known.
The citizens demanded action and punishment against government authorities under Section 17 of the Environment Protection Act, 1986, if they are involved in the illegal activity of landfilling.
Revolutionary Goans also submitted a memorandum to nearly a dozen departments, alleging failure on their part to prevent landfilling and initiating action against violators.
Preventing further destruction is critical due to findings of the Goa State Action Plan on climate change that shows vulnerability of areas of the state.