Wayanad is 'eye opening' for us, says Goa Revenue Minister

Panaji, Aug 1 (IANS) Stating that the landslide at Wayanad in Kerala is 'eye opening' for Goa, the State Revenue Minister Atanasio Monserrate said on Thursday that precautionary measures to safeguard the environment of the coastal state will be taken so that no such incident takes place here.

The Minister was replying to 'Calling Attention' raised by the Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao and other two MLAs over massive landslides in Wayanad where hundreds of lives were lost.

"Similar landslides have taken place in other parts of India. Goa, too, is experiencing similar incidents. Unplanned and excessive development in ecologically-sensitive areas in Goa are prone to such landslides," Alemao said.

Minister Monserrate said that the Goa government has taken the Wayanad landslide incident seriously and will take appropriate measures.

"Wayanad landslide incident is 'eye opening' for Goa. It is high time that we take precautionary measures to safeguard our environment. To avoid such incidents the government will issue advisory to all planning and development authorities, all local bodies, specially Town and Country Planning Department to strictly enforce all preventive measures while granting clearance to developmental projects," the Minister added.

He said that the Agriculture department will be asked to lay emphasise on afforestation.

"We will request the Water Resources Department to conduct a study on the preventive measures. Necessary assistance from the Centre will be sought for the purpose," he added.

"The nature of landslide incidents that occurred previously in Goa did not cause urgent displacement of families. In case of emergencies, the government has constructed 11 multipurpose cyclone shelters with all basic facilities for providing temporary accommodation to the disaster-affected victims whenever required. Additionally, the government has identified 259 schools and 132 community halls as emergency centres in both north and south districts with all basic facilities," the Minister said.

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