MARGAO
A group of residents of Cuncolim on Tuesday demanded action against the construction carried out by a fish exporting unit outside the Cuncolim Industrial estate and to revert to the Sociedade of Gauncars all land illegally occupied by the industrial units.
A day after the owner of Ms Quality Exports Maulana Ibrahim levelled allegations of extortion against Adv Patrick Monteiro and Aviraj Desai, the duo along with the residents vowed to fight till the illegal construction is stopped and the land occupied by the exporter is reverted to the Sociedade.
The residents also gave a six-day deadline to Opposition Leader & Cuncolim MLA Yuri Alemao to inspect the construction site in question with the concerned agencies and prove that he is with the people of Cuncolim.
They also made a fervent plea to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to inspect the site during his visit to Cuncolim for the annual Sotreo festival of Shree Shantadurga Kunkolinarin scheduled later this month.
They have further decided to file a complaint with the SIT saying this is a fit case to be investigated for land grab.
Both Patrick and Aviraj demanded to know why Ibrahim did not lodge a police complaint against them if they had demanded money from him. Patrick said he would soon file a defamation case against Ibrahim for making the baseless allegations of corruption.
Addressing the media, Patrick demanded that Ibrahim produce all the legal land documents to prove that the Sociedade has leased out the land to him. He further demanded that Ibrahim produce the relevant permissions from the departments to show he is carrying out the excavation legally.
On the contrary, Patrick produced documents to show that the Deputy Collector has issued a stop work order to the company to halt the work, adding that the TCP has asked the party to produce the permissions.
He demanded the concerned authorities investigate the presence of thousands of migrant labourers staying in the Cuncolim industrial estate in violation of all labour norms.
Aviraj Desai said if the local MLA Yuri Alemao is with the people of Cuncolim and is against illegalities at the industrial estate, he should inspect the site within six days. “Otherwise, we will have the conclusion that the MLA is supporting the illegalities in the industrial estate,” he added.
Demanding to know how Ibrahim has excavated the land when he has no lease agreement with the Sociedade, Aviraj demanded that the Sociedade should start action to revert to the body all land occupied by the industries illegally.
Activist Shantanu Desai demanded to know why Ibrahim did not lodge a police complaint against Patrick and Aviraj if they had demanded money from him.
Meanwhile, all eyes are now focused on the Cuncolim municipal inspection of the site scheduled on March 9.
