the goan I network
MARGAO
Congress MLA Reginaldo Lourenco on Monday said that neither the central government nor the State Government has any right to disturb the uniqueness portrayed by the natural beauty of the villages of Goa.
Referring to the ongoing agitation by the villagers opposing the reclassification of the villages as urban areas, Reginaldo told Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrate that the wishes of the villagers in Curtorim and Raia along with 54 other villages of Goa in their opposition to the ‘urban’ reclassification needs to be respected.
“The will of the people in opposing the notification of their villages as urban areas needs to be respected,” he said, in a letter to the government.
Calling the notification draconian in nature, Reginaldo alleged that the motive behind it was nothing but the destruction of all Goa’s exotic villages by massive construction to support the unending hunger of real estate lobby.
“These lush green villages would then be classified as CRZ II leading to all round concretization. It is sad that neither the MLAs nor local VPs of the 56 villages were taken into confidence before such a drastic notification was issued,” Reginaldo said, urging the Chief Minister and Revenue Minister not to play into the hands of the central government by stating villages have been notified as per directions of Centre for Census 2021.
“We want to maintain the uniqueness of our villages bequeathed to us by our forefathers and wish to pass on the same to our future generations,” he added.
