Brace for heating effect and waste problems in urban areas: Experts

Panaji: In the draft Goa State Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan, which has been recently opened for public consultation, the sub-committee of experts for urban planning has warned that Goa needs to be better prepared for the future.

The committee has said that the state should be ready to meet the challenges of waste management, heating effect, and seawater ingress in urban areas. The experts have said this readiness is vital as the urban population continues to rise in Goa at a fast pace.

Moreover, the committee has said that water bodies are facing severe pollution across urban areas in Goa.

“In Margao, urbanites of old age remember that they were harvesting fish from the Sal river. Now it is a dead river,” the plan document says. “The lake at Vasco has also been polluted. The Kushavati river at Quepem, the Valavanti rivulet at Sanquelim and Bicholim, the Mapusa river, and the river in Sanguem follow the same trend.”

The plan states that areas leading up to Margao, Ponda, and Panaji urban areas were once wetlands which supported bird biodiversity.

“Now, a lot of areas starting from Margao Sports Stadium have been reclaimed for construction, including that of Ravindra Bhavan, the collectorate, the PDA market and the bus stand, driving away flora and fauna and natural floodwater holding space of the town,” the plan says.

The experts have suggested urban farming, the protection of water bodies within and near urban areas, the development of green belts, and a restriction on indiscriminate pest control using chemicals which destroy important species of insects like honeybees.

“Creating forest belts around cities, spanning 100-500 metres, establishes natural boundaries for growth,” the plan says.

The plan states that over the past 40 years, the sea has been showing fast ingress landwards at the rate of 1 metre per year.

The current solid waste management facilities are severely insufficient for Goa’s urban requirement, the plan adds.

“Currently, the facility at Saligao caters to only waste generated at 27 villages in North Goa. And it is overloaded. One facility is not enough for the entire state,” the plan says.