PANAJI
The ongoing agitation against the infra projects threatening the Mollem National Park gained a significant national footprint with multiple media platforms covering it in-depth.
In a late Friday night programme on her significantly subscribed YouTube Channel, Mumbai-based journalist Faye D’Souza had Goa’s Power and Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral responding to queries posed by opponents of the projects.
Cabral fumbled for answers at times but made an overarching effort to insist that the projects were for the benefit of the people and not meant to create a coal-transportation hub.
Asked by Faye to define the benefits, Cabral responded: “If you ask me to define the benefits, I will not be in a position to do so straight away.”
Cabral added that the people travelling by trains will be benefitted by the South Western Railway track-doubling project.
On the project to lay power transmission lines, the Minister claimed on Faye D’Souza’s programme that in four years time Goa will be acutely powered deficient and cited a 10-year power-demand study to justify his claim.
Cabral’s claim is reference to the widely contested ‘White Paper’ on Goa’s power situation he released a fortnight ago.
Earlier on Thursday, Faye D’Souza had also hosted a threadbare discussion on the issue and had on her panel Goyant Kollso Naka co-convenor Abhijit Prabhudesai, Goa Foundation Director Claude Alvares, Panaji-based Wildlife Biologist Dr Nandini Velho and young journalist Sherry Fernandes.
Meanwhile, several other reputed news websites including Quint, TheWire, Newsminute among others have put out exclusive stories on the Mollem issue in the last 2-3 days.
Also, an extensive video on Mollem produced and uploaded by popular YouTubers and influencers Abhi and Niyu garnered more than 3.25 lakh views in less than 24 hours.
