PANAJI
The organisers of the proposed 'mega rally' at Sanquelim on January 16, who were served with a revocation of permission to use the town's civic ground on Thursday, have announced that they will go ahead with their plans but at a different venue.
The Save Goa, Save Mhadei front has said the rally will be held at Sanquelim itself but at the open ground near the Virdi-Amona bridge.
The Front, a representative umbrella entity of civil society groups from across Goa backed by the Opposition parties, made the announcement while briefing the media at the Azad Maidan in the capital on Friday evening.
The Front was formed in the aftermath of the approval granted to projects proposed by Karnataka to divert waters of the Mhadei river from its basin to that of the Malaprabha river by the Central Water Commission.
Members of the Front, meanwhile, have alleged that the government delegation led by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant which had gone to Delhi to espouse Goa's cause on the vexed Mhadei issue, returned with a diktat from their Central leadership to suppress the 'Save Mhadei' movement building up in Goa.
It may be recalled that the Sanquelim Municipal Council had on Thursday revoked the permission granted to hold the January 16 rally on its grounds.
The civic body's Chief Officer Kabir Shirgaonkar issued the letter revoking the permission but its chairperson claimed that the decision was the bureaucrat's unilateral decision without consulting the council.
Shirgaonkar had cited apprehensions that it would cause public inconvenience and commotion as it is also the day on which the weekly bazaar is held in the town.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Goa Forward Party (GFP) have slammed the Sawant government as "dictatorial" for the revocation of the permission to the rally.
