Sand dune vegetation hindering their beauty: Goa’s education minister

The Corporation of the City of Panaji along with education minister Atanasio Monserrate, in their eagerness to give children visiting the science centre in Miramar a lesson in sand dunes, may infact be instrumental in the destruction of the last of the dunes on the beach. Environmentalists have cautioned against the CCP’s plan to uncover the last of the sand dunes on the Miramar-Caranzalem. They say by removing the top cover of vegitation, the exposed dunes will be vulnerable to the winds.

Mr Monserrate is quoted to have said, “The whole area has seven sand dunes, but bushes covered and hid them from view. Clearing them will show the dunes in pristine condition for children to have an educative and enjoyable experience.”

Antonio Mascarenhas, an NIO scientist, explained, “The dune vegetation that grows on it acts as a sand binder due to which the dune attains stability. Uprooting this vegetation produces loose sand and renders the dune sand mobile. When the wind speed increases, there is every likelihood that the sand will get blown towards the hinterland. This is precisely the process we see at Miramar, where wind-blown sand gets deposited around the circle and creates traffic hazard as well as nuisance to beach users. This has been caused by the absence of proper dune vegetation along the open beach.”

The CCP has already engaged workers in clearing the bushes around the dunes.