Union Min says Chimbel site not biodiversity hotspot
Panaji: The Union government has said that the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has not received any communication opposing the proposed Pradhan Mantri Ekta (Unity) Mall in Goa and that the site identified in Chimbel village does not fall within a biodiversity hotspot.
South Goa Congress MP Viriato Fernandes raised the issue in the Lok Sabha during the ongoing Budget Session on Tuesday.
This came a day after the state government officially handed over letters to agitating villagers of Chimbel stating that both the Unity Mall and Prashasan Stambh projects had been shifted out of the village, following which tribal residents called off their agitation after 44 days.
In a reply tabled in the Parliament, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada said that the site proposed earlier for the Unity Mall was not located in a biodiversity hotspot and that the project would not have affected any freshwater lake, aquifers in the catchment area, or other water bodies.
The Minister said that, as per information provided by the Goa government, the Unity Mall project was to be taken up by the Department of Tourism on land owned by it and that the land was not tribal land.
The reply stated that the project had obtained all required permissions from authorities, including technical clearance from the Town and Country Planning Department, environmental clearance, forest permission for tree cutting, clearances from the Goa State Pollution Control Board, and health authorities.
