MARGAO
Congress announced its plan to organize a public awareness meeting on Saturday, November 7, at 4 pm, to warn the BJP not to go ahead with the Mollem projects, including double-tracking, and to convert Goa into a coal hub to help the Central government’s crony club.
GPCC President Girish Chodankar disclosed the details at a press conference held at Congress House on Wednesday in the presence of Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat, former Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane, GPCC Vice-president Sankalp Amonkar and spokesperson Tulio D’Souza.
Chodankar said, “Looking at the strong presence of Congress at Chandor, the BJP along with its A, B and C teams and NDA partners got rattled. We are not going to bow down to such dirty tricks of the BJP and its allies.” He also warned CM Pramod Sawant and Power Minister Nilesh Cabral against becoming the spokespersons of crony capitalists.
Congress warned the government not to give communal colour to the people’s agitation against its blatant failure to protect the environment and identity of Goa.
The GPCC president also urged BJP Government to call public hearing on the three projects passing through wildlife sanctuaries and the Western Ghats.
“The three projects passing through the wildlife sanctuary and national park will affect the trees and thousands of animals that live there. These projects will threaten Goa’s only source of water supply as the rivers are originating from Mollem. Every Goan must come and openly oppose these devastating projects,” stated Pratapsingh Rane.
He urged that the land in Mollem, a large part of which is protected as Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary since 1969, and the Mollem National Park since 1978, needs to be protected forever to maintain the ecological balance of Goa. “National Board of Wildlife is supposed to protect biodiversity and not give free hand for disturbing and destroying nature,” Rane lashed out.
Speaking about the controversial Shel-Melauli IIT project, Rane said that the government must respect the sentiments of the locals before finalizing any project. “There is ample land available in Goa which can be utilized for the IIT project. But there is no alternative for cultivable land,” he pointed out.
“It was during my tenure as Chief Minister, I had personally shown the Union Minister the mismanagement of the port authorities in handling coal. He had immediately spoken to the Shipping Minister and urged him to ensure that the process is regularized and no inconvenience is caused to the citizens of Goa,” said former CM Digambar Kamat.
