CANACONA
A number of activists have denounced Speaker and Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar’s strong support for the proposed Film City project in Loliem as “a green initiative that deserves public backing.”
While addressing the media outside the Goa Legislative Assembly on Monday, Tawadkar had asserted that projects like Film City aim at sustainable development and should not be dismissed outright due to habitual resistance to change.
“I am in favour of the Film City. It has to come. Some people oppose development just for the sake of it,” said Tawadkar, but added that the government would consult locals and the panchayat before making any final decision.
Responding to Tawadkar’s statements, Prashant Pagi, environmental activist and a Loliem Gram Sabha member, said: “Instead of respecting the people’s voice, the local MLA has made an outrageous and arrogant claim, calling this united opposition the voice of ‘a few people’ and vowing to bring the project.”
Pagi claimed that in the Gram Sabha on Sunday, over 200 members were present and not a single person opposed the resolution against the project.
“That is 100% opposition. So how can an elected MLA stand up and claim it’s ‘only a few people’?” asked Pagi.
Loliem-Polem Biodiversity Management Committee President Dattaprasad Prabhugaonkar cautioned that people will not be intimidated by threats, lies, or political arrogance.
“This plateau is not just land, it is our identity, our future, and our collective heritage,” said Prabhugaonkar.
Prabhugaonkar added that people in the village have stood firm for years and will continue to resist the proposed Film City.
Tawadkar’s remarks came a day after the Gram Sabha of Loliem-Polem unanimously rejected the Film City proposal along with 13 other projects approved by the local Comunidade. The villagers argued that the projects, including a cricket stadium, solar power plant, and fruit processing units, threaten the plateau’s ecological balance and violate long-standing resolutions.
Film City project as ‘green project’ is baffling: Fernandes
CANACONA: Claiming he was baffled by Speaker and Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar’s claim that the proposed Film City project is a green project, Denis Fernandes of the Citizens Committee of Loliem-Polem said it is a sinister plan to expose the most ecosensitive Bhagwati plateau.
In a press note, Fernandes said information under RTI reveals that the built-up area for the construction of accommodation, roads, and other infrastructure is well over 3 lakh square metres, and the area allotted for such construction is over 3.5 lakh square metres. “Either Tawadkar is ill-informed or deliberately making statements to push the project for obvious reasons,” said Fernandes.
Fernandes also questioned Tawadkar’s claims that the Film City project is supported by the majority of the locals and that the project will be brought before the Gram Sabha at the right time. “The facts state otherwise, as over 1,100 villagers have signed a letter submitted to the Governor of Goa and other government authorities, petitioning to scrap the Film City and other projects planned on our ecosensitive plateaus,” said Fernandes.
“Further, the Gram Sabha of Loliem-Polem has passed a resolution not to allow any of the 13 projects planned on the plateaus. If the locals support Film City, then how come the Gram Sabha resolutions were passed unanimously without even one dissenting voice?”
“Lolienkars in the past have rejected the IIT on the Bhagwati plateau. There was a very strong ground movement during the IIT struggle; today it has become even stronger.”
“Lolienkars are well aware of the disastrous effects of such projects and will fight tooth and nail to save our plateaus. Lolienkars urge the Speaker to respect the sentiments of the locals by scrapping all the proposed projects on our ecosensitive plateaus,” Fernandes added.
