Anti-HOABL protesters march to govt depts, seek stop-work order
The ‘Save Karapur’ agitation reached the TCP office in Panaji on Friday, with Opposition leaders joining villagers in their demand for a halt to a proposed mega project.
PANAJI
The agitation against the proposed House of Abhinandan Lodha (HOABL) mega project at Karapur-Sarvan intensified on Friday, with villagers taking their 66-day-old protest to government offices in Panaji and warning of an indefinite sit-in outside the departments of Town and Country Planning (TCP) and Environment if authorities fail to immediately halt work at the site.
In a surprise move that caught authorities off guard earlier in the day, members of the "Save Karapur" movement abandoned their announced plan to protest at the Directorate of Panchayats and instead marched to the TCP department and later to the environment department. Police personnel had been deployed at the Panchayat Directorate in anticipation of the demonstration.
Led by St Cruz MLA Viresh Borkar, the protesters, including a large number of women and elderly residents, demanded an immediate stop-work order, alleging that large-scale environmental destruction, hill cutting and alteration of the landscape were continuing despite the project's environmental clearances remaining under scrutiny.
At the Environment Department, a delegation met Director Sachin Dessai and urged him to suspend all activities at the project site until statutory approvals are examined and decided upon by the competent authorities.
Speaking to media persons, environmental activist Abhijit Prabhudesai said that they informed officials that the project, spread over more than 50 hectares, requires prior environmental clearance under the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Notification. He alleged that work was continuing without the mandatory clearance and accused authorities of failing to act despite repeated complaints.
"The project should be shut down immediately. Every day of delay results in further destruction. The government will be accountable for allowing an illegal project to proceed," Prabhudesai said after the meeting.
He said that Dessai has assured the delegation that the issues raised would be placed before the State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) on Monday, June 15, to verify the allegations and assess the situation before taking a decision.
The assurance, however, failed to satisfy the protesters, who insisted that authorities could not wait for procedural reviews while work allegedly continued on the ground. They informed officials that they would return on Monday to seek an update and press for concrete action.
Earlier, at the TCP Department, protesters raised slogans and demanded the withdrawal of all permissions granted to the project. Prabhudesai alleged that extensive ecological damage had already occurred and questioned the viability of the development, claiming it lacked adequate access infrastructure and involved subdivision of land into small plots under the banner of affordable housing.
The delegation also met Deputy Chief Town Planner Vinod Kumar after finding the Chief Town Planner unavailable. They submitted objections seeking cancellation of the project approvals.
MLA Borkar criticised both the TCP and Environment Departments for allegedly failing to conduct site inspections despite continuous public objections over the past two months. "Neither department has carried out an inspection, even though villagers have been protesting for more than 60 days and have highlighted several irregularities. We are demanding an immediate stop-work order followed by withdrawal of all permissions," the MLA said.
The protest received support from Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao, Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar, AAP Goa president Valmiki Naik, MLA Cruz Silva and others who joined the demonstration and backed the villagers' demands.
