PANAJI
Hundreds of Chimbel residents took to the streets on Sunday to demonstrate their opposition to two big-ticket projects promoted by the State government in their village -- the Unity Mall and the Administrative Tower (Prashasan Stambh).
Both the projects are proposed on the Kadamba plateau on the same site where the government aborted plans it had to set up an ‘IT Park’ several years ago.
On Sunday, residents of the village were joined by several social activists from across the State to highlight the adverse impact these projects will have on the village and the lives of people residing there.
For starters, the fact that the sites of these two big projects are in close proximity to an eco-sensitive zone around the Toyyar Lake was highlighted at Sunday’s protests.
It was pointed out that the lake and its periphery have been notified as a ‘wetland’ and it was demanded that the area allocated for the two projects should instead house a biodiversity park.
Speakers at the protest expressed anguish that the projects would damage the lake, deplete aquifers, and also disrupt the livelihoods of the local community in Chimbel.
Another complaint voiced at the protest was the government’s failure to take the village and its residents into confidence before taking the decision to execute these projects there.
Interestingly, the Chimbel panchayat has also opposed both the projects.
Recently, the local self-governing body had passed a resolution specifically opposing the ‘Unity Mall’ and the ‘Prashasan Stambh’, a 17-storey State Administrative building which the government has claimed will be the tallest edifice in the State.
At Sunday’s protest, meanwhile, residents alleged that the very cultural and social identity of Chimbel will be at stake even as they questioned the green nod granted to these projects by the State Environmental Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA).
They alleged that the projects pose a direct threat to the Toyyar Lake and the surrounding wooded mountain.
In its approval, meanwhile, SEIAA has imposed the condition that the projects use treated water from the Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) at Tonca for construction purposes.
Another condition imposed includes a mandate for a comprehensive traffic circulation plan to avoid traffic congestion.
