--------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sign the Petition requesting The Honble Minister of State for Environment and Forests (I/C) to maintain the moratorium on issuing further environmental clearances for mining activities in Goa
http://goanvoice.org.uk/miningpetition.php --------------------------------------------------------------------------- St Inez nullah now a creek Paul Fernandes & Andrew Pereira, TNN, Apr 6, 2010, 04.36am IST PANAJI: In a major development, a sub-committee of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) decided to strictly consider the St Inez waterway as a creek-and not a storm water drain or nullah-for future planning purposes. "Future city planning will now consider it a creek and coastal regulation zone (CRZ) rules will now apply," a sub-committee member said. Opposition leader Manohar Parrikar who heads the JNNURM subcommittee said, "St Inez waterway is a creek, not a nullah, as it witnesses tidal flushing. The decision has been taken for the wholesome good of the city instead of a piecemeal solution." A meeting of the JNNURM subcommittee was held on Monday to consider a detailed project report prepared by the Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCO) for the creek's beautification. NIO scientist Antonio Mascarenhas invited for the meeting said the Survey of India (SoI) toposheet of the early 1960s proved that the creek was functional then with daily tidal influx routinely up to Tonca and beyond. "The entire landscape was then a marshy wetland, thinly populated and occupied by paddy fields and orchards. St Inez creek constitutes a part of the antecedent drainage of the area," he explained. Another member Nandkumar Kamat said, "It is an issue of ecological, environmental and social justice affecting half the city of Panaji. The move to convert the creek into a municipal drain by concretization is to permit constructions." TOI has reported about problems related to the St Inez creek, especially citizens' concerns regarding its concretization and the need for desilting it. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/St-Inez-nullah-now-a-creek/a rticleshow/5764960.cms ~(^^)~ Avelino