VASCO
Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha on Saturday appealed to people in the State to take a pledge to fight destructive projects in the State and to persuade the government against the three proposed projects.
Saldanha was speaking to reporters at Cansaulim after she and many others paid tributes to her husband, former minister late Matanhy Saldanha at a function in Cortalim to mark his 72nd birth anniversary.
Saldanha said after the death of her husband, she had taken his place and it was her moral duty to follow in his footsteps and do exactly what he would have done had he been alive.
“We are gathered here to remember Matanhy, who gave 40 years of his life fighting to protect Goa from all aspects, including injustice to society.”
“He fought and led many agitations, which included an agitation in the 70s which led to the water pollution act for the entire country and the movement was followed by Ramponkarancho movement, which also led to the 5-km ban on mechanised fishing and the Marine Regulation Act.”
“He fought many other agitations and on his birth anniversary, I appeal to every Goan to come out and fight to protect Goa against destructive projects because Goa is a small State and while these projects may be right for the big states, Goa cannot be allowed to be destroyed by these projects,” said Saldanha.
The former minister insisted that people cannot allow pollution to affect Goa.
“We have to fight such destructive projects and we will take a pledge today in front of the statue of late Matanhy Saldanha that we will fight destructive projects and persuade the government against the three projects,” said Saldanha, while referring to the South Western Railway (SWR) double-track between Vasco and Hospet, expansion of National Highway 4A and the High Tension Power Transmission Line through wildlife Sanctuary of the Western Ghats.
