Says survey confirms original site outside wetland but cites court order and public sentiment for move
PANAJI
The Goa government has decided to shift the proposed Unity Mall and Prashasan Stambh projects from their original site near Toyyar lake in Chimbel, following weeks of protests by local villagers and an order of the Principal District and Sessions Court, North Goa, cancelling the construction licence.
The decision was announced by the Tourism Department in a statement issued late Wednesday evening. The department said that although the proposed site was outside the Toyyar lake wetland and its zone of influence, the government chose to relocate both projects considering the sentiments of some villagers.
"Although the project site is in a settlement zone adjoining the National Highway, upon considering the sentiments and emotions of some of the villagers, it has been decided to shift the location of both the government projects to a different site," the statement said.
The department said that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had held a meeting with villagers of Chimbel on January 21, during which he directed that a detailed mapping of the Toyyar lake wetland and its zone of influence be undertaken.
"Thereafter, the survey exercise commenced on January 23, 2026, with representatives of the villagers, expert members, an advocate, a hydrologist, an architect, officials of CSIR-NIO, expert members of the Wetland Authority, DSLR, and the Tourism Department, and the exercise was completed on January 28," it said.
The statement further said that a comprehensive ground-truthing exercise was carried out during the survey to demarcate the catchment area, drainage lines, surface and sub-surface water flows, vegetation cover, agricultural land and natural springs, as pointed out by the villagers.
The department said the survey team traversed the entire boundary of the catchment area to map water sources and drainage lines and inspected every location highlighted by villagers.
"The survey team mapped the various inlet points in the lake along with high water line and low water line and the earthen bund of the lake. Besides the physical demarcation, assistance of high definition drones was taken for understanding the contours of the land," it said adding that after completion of the exercise, the draft report along with detailed maps was shared with the villagers and their advocate.
"Upon completion of the exercise the draft report along with the detailed maps were shared with the villagers and their advocate. From the survey, it was amply clear that the proposed site for the Unity Mall and Prashasan Stambh not only falls outside the zone of influence of the Toyyar lake wetland, but also the catchment area that was mapped by the experts engaged by the villagers," the statement added.
Earlier in the day, villagers of Chimbel have dug heels and declined to attend a meeting called by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday, insisting that the government first share the Detailed Project Report (DPR) so they can study it and correlate with the inspection report.
The meeting was scheduled to discuss the project’s impact. But villagers said they cannot engage meaningfully without access to the DPR.
“We need to study the document before any talks,” a local leader stated.
Later, the villagers’ lawyer, Malisa Simoes, confirmed receipt of the draft report.
“The survey has just been completed. We need at least 24 hours to correlate the observations with our findings. We will submit our report after that,” Simoes said.
The Chief Minister had last week made a fresh appeal to protesters opposing the Unity Mall to withdraw their agitation. He maintained that the Unity Mall is a Central government initiative and cannot be scrapped, pointing out that it involves a steel structure and that significant expenditure has already been incurred.
