the goan I network
CANACONA
Drama prevailed at Agonda on Monday morning after several people assembled at the Panna junction to block the main road and prevent officials and a demolition team from proceeding to Agonda beach to demolish hundreds of beachside structures.
In what was a carefully planned operation, some of the affected tourism operators convened a meeting in Agonda on Sunday night and had delegated duties to different people, in a bid to stall the demolitions.
Accordingly, one group had been entrusted with the task of keeping watch on the main Agonda road at the Panna junction and to alert people as and when demolition squads were to arrive to carry out demolitions as ordered by the GCZMA.
On noticing the demolition squads leaving Chaudi town early Monday morning and proceeding towards Agonda, one group began alerting other people in the village.
Soon, a large group of people assembled at the Panna junction, where the main village road diverts to Agonda beach, as a few bulldozers and JCBs began to arrive escorted by police teams.
While normal traffic was allowed to proceed to the beach road, some vehicles were strategically placed to block the road if any attempt was made to move bulldozers towards the beach.
On noticing the number of people on the road leading to Agonda beach, the demolition teams then headed straight on the road and were stationed near the police outpost and the Agonda Panchayat building.
Several officials, which included Canacona Mamlatdar Raghuraj Phaldessai and other mamlatdars, Canacona Electricity Asst Executive Engineer Vinayak Mhalsekar, Canacona Police Inspector Sudesh Narvekar and GCZMA Expert member Dr Prabhakar Shirodkar, began arriving at Agonda.
The officials refrained from moving past the crowd gathered at the Panna junction and instead, proceeded to the Agonda panchayat building, where the panchayat office was opened at about 8 am,
well before the normal office time.
Though no attempt was made by authorities to get the crowd to disperse from the Panna junction, the crowd, with many holding placards to denounce the proposed demolition and denying them natural justice, began to increase with every passing minute.
The crowd finally dispersed from the site and even allowed vehicles carrying officials, including Addl Collector Agnelo Fernandes, after they were assured that the demolition team and machinery would not proceed to the beach.
The officials, however, requested the affected tourism operators to remain present at their tourism structures, while officers visited the site for inspections.
