Mandrem wants villa project scrapped pending CRZ nod

the goan I network
PERNEM

The residents demanded that the construction work on the villa should be stopped until the project gets clearance from CRZ. They said all the officers concerned should attend the next gram sabha to reply to the queries of the villagers.
Amit Sawant said a memorandum was submitted to the panchayat asking about the permission given to the project. "This project is against the will of the people and the construction should be stopped till it gets clearance from CRZ," demanded Sawant and asked the panchayat to call the villa owner in the next gram sabha.
Adv Prasad Shahpurkar said he had submitted a memorandum to the panchayat requesting to take action against reckless cutting of hills at Junaswada and Ashvem for the villa project.
"As a lawyer, I know that the panchayat cannot give permission to such private projects without clearance from CRZ. Such projects can be dangerous," he added.
According to sources, the officials of the project in 2002 attended a gram sabha and had told the villagers that a starred resort would be built at Mandrem. The officials had also assured to give 300 jobs to the villagers and taxi service for the local taxi operators.
The Mandrem villagers had agreed to it and had given their consent for the project.
However, the management of the villa project planned to build bungalows and sell it.
The villagers on Sunday sought to know how a resort transformed into a villa. As the panchayat could not give satisfactory reply, the gram sabha was adjourned.