MARGAO
High drama unfolded at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on Wednesday evening when an agitated Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai trooped into the main auditorium playing host to a singing reality show shooting to question the activity when Covid cases as well as deaths have been on the rise in Fatorda in the last few days.
The Goa Forward supremo was right there on the stage with his newly-elected councillors Vitorino Tavares, Pooja Naik and Lyndon Pereira and others in tow as he confronted the organisers how the shooting continues at the Ravindra Bhavan when the government has imposed restrictions on local citizens to stay indoors.
A visibly upset Sardesai warned that he along with the people of Fatordekars will assemble at the Ravindra Bhavan to stop the film shooting, claiming that activities such as shooting by outsiders have only led to the surge in Covid cases in Fatorda and in the State.
Inside the main auditorium, Sardesai questioned the permission granted for the shooting when people of Goa have been pleading for a lockdown, terming the film shooting as government’s lockdown industry. A member of the shooting team insisted that they have obtained all the legal permissions from the authorities to hold the shooting at the Ravindra Bhavan.
The Fatorda MLA was not ready to accept the argument, claiming that when he and his team entered the main auditorium, he found that the people inside had no masks and were not maintaining social distancing. The organisers, however, said that members have been complying with the Covid safety norms.
He later told the media that the Pramod Sawant government wants to keep Goans inside their homes and get outsiders for film shooting by violating the norms.
“Film shooting has become an industry for this government. I want to make a charge that Goans are suffering from Covid by this imported strain. One side, government speaks about restrictions on Goans and allows shooting inside. We have to stop this in the interest of Fatordekars. I don’t want to bring people on the roads in times of Covid, but we will have to do something to stop this shooting,” he warned.
Claiming that shooting at the Ravindra Bhavan has made Fatorda a Covid hotspot, the MLA said, “This is imported virus which has resulted in the death of Fatordekars. Those who have issued permissions are to be blamed.”
