VASCO
After a relentless 30-year legal battle, a hotel project at Primeiro Vaddo in Velsao has finally been demolished.
The fight against the hotel project at Primeiro Vaddo had been spearheaded by then general secretary of Goenchea Raponkarancho Ekvott and former minister late Matanhy Saldanha.
A case against the construction of the hotel project, in violation of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) 1991, was first filed in the High Court of Bombay at Goa and then was sent to the National Green Tribunal, Pune, where the order was passed for demolition in 2014. The Supreme Court of India subsequently passed a demolition order in 2017.
Former Velsao panch Camilo Souza stated it was during his term as panch that he had collected all evidence on the instruction of Saldanha who then filled the petition with his own money.
Olencio Simoes stated that he remembered the days as a young teen when his uncle late Matanhy Saldanha used to get death threats but he never bowed down to the pressure of hoteliers.
“Today, the villagers of Velsao have found justice after so many decades. It's a sad state of affairs that authorities did not act even after the Supreme Court order which was passed in 2017 to demolish the hotel, and it took seven years to demolish the hotel,” said Simoes.
Simoes has also warned authorities for approving mega projects in NDZ, CRZ or NDS in hilly areas, as the CRZ notification was bought to protect the livelihoods of fisher communities, farmers and other local communities, living in the coastal areas, to conserve and protect coastal stretches, its unique environment and its marine area.
“But unfortunately, the fishers who fought to bring this notification are used against them by bringing illegal mega projects in coastal areas,” added Simoes.
