the goan I network
PANAJI
Twin protests against the nod given to the Khalsa-Bhandura drinking water project to be built across the river Mhadei in Karnataka rocked the State capital on Tuesday afternoon, with two big rallies being organised, one at the Azad Maidan, and the other at the Raj Bhavan.
The protest which culminated at the Azad Maidan was organised by the Mhadei Bachao Andolan (MBA) and saw around 300 protestors march from Mahalaxmi Temple to the Azad Maidan with ghumots, banners, and shouting slogans.
The protest which culminated at the Raj Bhavan was organised by the Congress party and was led by Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat. The Congress protest saw an estimated equal number of protestors. It started at the Dona Paula junction with protestors carrying Congress flags, banners and shouting slogans.
This is the eleventh such protest being carried out by the MBA in connection with the issue, with the other ten being carried out across other different talukas.
Speakers like Arvind Bhatikar, the convenor of the MBA, Elvis Gomes and Subhash Velingkar, the co-coordinators led the protest, and also delivered speeches shaming the government on its silence on the issue.
Meanwhile, a delegation from the Congress with the party’s top leaders met the Secretary to Governor of Goa Rupesh Thakur (IAS), in the absence of the governor Satya Pal Malik, and handed over a memorandum to be handed over to the Prime Minister.
“It will be an ecological disaster if a hydrologically destructive project of Karnataka is permitted,” stated the memorandum signed by Kamat and Chodankar. “The Central Government under your leadership shows no respect for the sentiments of Goans and has no concern about livelihood of Goemkars.... The Kalsa Bhandura Project must not be permitted. We demand that the Environmental Clearance granted to Karnataka for the project be revoked immediately,” it continued.
Addressing the press, Kamat also reiterated that he had demanded a one-day assembly session in Goa to discuss the issue so that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s case could be made stronger when taking Goa’s demands to the Centre.
