the goan I network
OLD GOA
Vehemently opposing the Nauxim marina project, the villagers of Curca-Bambolim-Talaulim have resolved to get the November 2 public hearing scrapped at any cost.
At the gram sabha on Sunday, attended by a large number of villagers, activist Rama Kankonkar outlined that the public hearing needs to be scrapped first if the project has to be scrapped.
“Look at what happened to the coal issue in Mormugao. Even after the public hearing on the issue, coal handling has not stopped,” Kankonkar pointed out while stressing the need to scrap the hearing.
“We need to muster support of at least 5000 people not a few hundreds to pressurise the government to scrap the hearing,” Kankonkar further said while urging the panchas as well as all the candidates who had contested the panchayat elections to go to the people for their support.
Speaking on the issue, Adv Suresh Palkar stated that the November 2 public hearing should not be allowed to take place at any cost. “After the public hearing takes place, slowly licences will be issued through single window system under IPB. Even if we later go to court, the courts won’t listen as it would say that the public was heard at the hearing,” Palkar pointed out.
“If government does not heed to our demand, we have an alternate strategy in place, which we are not going to disclose now,” he stated. We will meet the chief minister Pramod Sawant on Monday, which will be the last one, after which we will take decision over our future strategy,” Palkar disclosed and urged for massive public support to fight against the marina
project.
“From children to elders, everybody must participate in the agitation and we have already started awareness programmes to the youth so that they too participate in large numbers,” he added.
Coming down on the EIA report, Adv Palkar termed it bogus and fraud as it was done by an agency in Tamil Nadu to favour the project and not a local agency like NIO. “NIO scientists are well aware of the locality having done numerous studies on fish and biodiversity of the shore, which is why the EIA report was not done through them as they would have come out with the truth,” Palkar claimed. “We are fighting the cause on a common platform, irrespective of political affiliations, and even if politicians back out, we will never back out,” Palkar warned. PANCHAYAT SUPPORTS CALL
OLD GOA: Reiterating its support to the villagers in its fight against the Nauxim marina project, the Curca-Bambolim-Talaulim panchayat has passed a resolution demanding that the November 2 public hearing be scrapped.
Speaking on behalf of panchayat authorities, panch Marvin Gonsalves said the panchayat had already passed a resolution on October 4 against the marina and the same was submitted to CM. “Today, we are passing another resolution demanding that November 2 public hearing be scrapped,” Gonsalves stated.
Another panch Gautam Naik called for a massive uprising against the project, before the public hearing takes place.
