MARGAO: Even as the TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai called on Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday noon with a plea to take the kabrastan project forward, a group of residents of Sirvodem ward of Margao Municipal Council vowed to oppose any filling of the low lying land adjoining the river Sal proposed for the burial grounds.
The residents, who assembled in the evening near the ground, made it clear that they are neither communalizing the issue nor are against the Muslim community and the kabrastan, but will oppose the project tooth and nail since the burial grounds has been proposed in an eco-sensitive and low-lying zone.
Saying that the local residents were not taken into confidence while shortlisting the site for the proposed kabrastan, they have now called for a joint inspection of the site with the ward councillor and local MLA Digambar Kamat and have decided to invite the TCP Minister to have a close look at the site in question.
A local resident Xavier Fernandes told the media that the residents are not opposed to the kabrastan in Sirvodem, but pointed out that the site where the burial ground is proposed is close to the river Sal, which is prone to flooding. “The 20,000 square meters of land is a water catchment zone. There are eco sensitive fields, which act as a buffer for water during the monsoon,” Xavier said, adding filling of low-lying water catchment area will inundate Sirvodem during rains.
Xavier further said that migrants, who are working as illegal hawkers on the beach belt and involved in collecting trash and waste, have been occupying these fields illegally. “We the residents would like to send a message loud and clear to the politicians, including the local MLA and the TCP Minister that the people will oppose filling up of low lying fields for the kabrastan,” he said.
Shervin Fernandes told the media that the residents are not at all communalizing the issue, making it clear that they are not against any community. “The land which is sought to be acquired and filled up is coming under the CRZ. The local residents will bear the brunt if the land is filled up,” Shervin
said, adding that the local residents will form a panel to take up the issue with the local MLA Digambar Kamat and the TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai and the Directorate of Land Survey for action. Anthony Rodrigues said the people of Sirvodem have only come to oppose filling of land and not the kabrastan. “We are not against the kabrastan. Let the kabrastan come up, but we are against the filling up of the low-lying area,” he said.
