It’s a reality that is almost frozen. The over two-decade old Esperanca Ice Plant owned by Constancio Rodrigues and family, set up to primarily help the fishermen from Baina and Vasco, may fall under the bulldozers of the demolition squad when the remaining 121 illegal structures on Baina beach get demolished base on the report of the Goa Coastal Zone Management authority (GCZMA). But Rodrigues, the proud owner of this ice factory, is not ready for a meltdown. At least not yet. He is a local and his factory is completely legal and above all, he has played a vital part in the lives of fishermen of Baina, at a time when they had to travel almost 10 kms to get ice blocks from another ice factory located at Chicalim, twenty years ago. If ice was not available at Chicalim, then they were forced to travel another seven kilometres to Birla to procure the ice needed for preserving the fish by paying a higher price including transport. Today, the fate of ice factory is uncertain. Though the owners have kept factory closed for renovation, it is not certain whether the GCZMA axe will fall on it. Rodrigues reiterates that he possesses all required documents to prove its legality. He says that his factory has all approvals from different state government agencies, but still is among the 121 structures listed out by the state administration for demolition. The ice factory today is one of the main sources of our family’s income and it is very difficult for us to imagine that the ice factory will be demolished in name of CRZ violations etc. It has been built on a property which was purchased in 1968 and the local civic body had imposed a house tax in 1974. How has my plant became illegal? Rodrigues challenges. I am confused and worried as I have all documents to prove that my ice factory is legal. I have all the approvals for ice factory. On June 10, 2016 the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) gave its consent for the ice factory, similarly, the Fire Department issued its NOC but few days later I was served with GCZMA notice with the directions to demolish my structure, Rodrigues points out. Refusing to buckle, Rodrigues, who is popularly known as Burcuti’ among fishermen decided to take the lead and file a writ petition along with 60 other fishermen before the High Court against the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) member secretary and other state authorities seeking relief from GCZMA’s demolition order. From a traditional fisherman to a bar owner, then from a soda factory owner and now to an ice plant owner, the Rodrigues’ family is a classic example of being victims of development. While the PWD acquired around 380 square metres of land in my total plot of 1000 square metres for the four-lane project, I lost my bar and soda factory for the four-lane alignment and today my property is sandwiched between four-lane highway and CRZ, he added. He said, I have decided to fight the battle to safeguard my legal ice plant and this fight will continue till I get justice. Though the case has been going on before High Court, I am prepared to approach Supreme Court or even Prime Minister and President of India as after giving up the traditional fishing occupation, we slogged hard and invested our money in bar, soda factory and now the Esperanca ice plant for which we even paid hefty loans to the banks and became absolute owners. Under such circumstances we cannot allow our ice plant to be demolished.
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