PANAJI: In a bid to break the fast-unto-death protest of St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant announced that all permissions granted for zone changes under Section 39A in the St Andre constituency would be kept in abeyance.
However, Borkar rejected the move, insisting that merely keeping the permissions on hold was inadequate. He reiterated his demand for the complete scrapping of the controversial provision, stating that the issue concerns the larger interest of people across Goa and not just a single constituency.
Addressing the media last night after a high-level meeting with the TCP Minister Vishwajit Rane and the Chief Town Planner, Sawant said a letter has already been drafted, calling it the first step the government can take within the legal framework.
“I have appealed to MLA Viresh Borkar to call off his hunger strike. The letter is ready, and I am prepared to hand it over to him immediately. He is insisting on complete revocation, which is a detailed legal process and will take a few days. His health is important, and we are concerned,” the CM said.
He also alleged that some individuals were attempting to influence Borkar for political gain. “Many people are advising him, but they are doing so to take political advantage. He should not get carried away,” Sawant said.
Reacting to the announcement, Borkar maintained that keeping permissions in abeyance does not address the core issue. “If the government is serious, it can revoke the permissions within a day. Our clear and only demand is complete revocation of all approvals granted under Section 39A,” he said.
He pointed out that in an earlier case in St Andre, permissions were kept in abeyance, only for the project to resume later. “We do not want a repeat of that,” Borkar said.
He added that the government could take two to three days to arrive at a firm decision, but insisted that anything short of revocation would not suffice. “We do not want abeyance in St Andre. We want revocation, and we want the section scrapped across Goa,” he said.
