Gram sabha lists procedural flaws in Loutolim IPB nod for academy

MARGAO
Loutolim villagers have cited a host of reasons behind their opposition to the Goa Investment Promotion and Investment Board’s in-principle decision to notify the land admeasuring 25,000 square metres in the village as an “investment promotion area” for the proposed cricket academy, museum, villas, etc.
In fact, villagers say the affected lands, classified in the Regional Plan 2021 as partly orchard, partly natural cover, and partly No Development Slopes (NDS), comprise hilly plateaus that function as critical water aquifers, replenishing the groundwater table for the entire Rassaim ward. Villagers fear that permitting intensive development in this ecologically sensitive zone will irreversibly damage water security and the environment.
They claimed the Investment Promotion Board (IPB) granted in-principle approval without conducting any site inspection, ground study, or impact assessment. No studies were undertaken to evaluate the impact on infrastructure such as water supply, sewage, electricity, roads, or the environment, nor was the village’s carrying capacity assessed in light of existing pressures.
They highlighted that shipbuilding units located approximately 200–250 metres downhill along the Zuari riverbanks have already led to an uncontrolled influx of migrant workers, causing severe strain on local infrastructure and ecological degradation.
Concerns are also expressed over the proximity of the proposed IPA to nearly 24 lakh square metres of Loutolim Comunidade lands acquired for Verna Industrial Estate Phases III and IV. Villagers reported acute water shortages due to rampant borewell drilling by industrial units, leading to the drying up of wells and springs for most of the year. Despite losing land and control over notified areas, the Panchayat reportedly earns zero revenue from these industrial estates while bearing the environmental and infrastructural burden.
During discussions on the controversial issue at the extraordinary gram sabha, Franky Monteiro said: “The village has not only lost its lands but the Panchayat has also lost control over these notified areas and earns zero revenue from the units in the Industrial Estate in the form of trade tax and other taxes, while the village has to carry and bear the acute strain on its natural resources and the burden of the negative effects of the said Verna Industrial Estate in regard to irreparable environmental and ecological damage.”
The villagers further said the project works proposed by the project proponent reveal that the project is actually a real estate project comprising residential and commercial projects, and real estate projects cannot be permitted in hilly regions and ecologically sensitive areas, moreover when the lands are classified as partly orchard, partly natural cover and partly NDS. The very few remaining lands in these hilly regions are required to be preserved for posterity, they said.
The gram sabha stated that the recommendation by the IPB and the government’s Proclamation proposing to declare the 25,000 sq. mts. in Loutolim village as an “Investment Promotion Area” without any ground study and without taking the Village Panchayat into confidence is unjustified and unacceptable. “Such recommendation and Proclamation defeats the basic principles of natural justice and fair play, wherein such projects are dumped upon the village without the consent and knowledge of the stakeholders who are permanent residents of the village and without the consent and knowledge of the Village Panchayat,” the resolution added.