Villagers alleged project received panchayat nod despite court stay
Panaji: Kadamba Plateau witnessed a tense situation on Thursday as a large number of Chimbel villagers came together to protest against the Unity Mall and Prashasan Stambh projects in the village.
Opposing the Goa Tourism Development Corporation’s move, the villagers announced a hunger strike on December 28, followed by a large public meeting on January 4. The protest saw heated arguments with the villagers accusing the administration of ignoring their grievances despite repeated attempts. Tiswadi mamlatdar was present along with a posse of policemen.
The villagers alleged that the Chimbel panchayat issued a construction licence for the project despite a stay granted by the district court.
Villager Ajay Kholkar said the panchayat issued the construction licence within a day, even though the panchayat body had passed a resolution opposing the project. He said GTDC challenged the resolution before the BDO of Tiswadi.
“Within one month, the case was disposed of and an order was passed that the construction licence be given to the project within 24 hours,” Kholkar said. He added that when villagers challenged the BDO’s order before the Directorate of Panchayats, the case was dismissed within two days.
The villagers then approached the district court and obtained a stay on the matter. “Despite this, the Chimbel panchayat gave the construction licence,” he said, adding that when villagers attempted to approach the authorities agian, the model code of conduct came into force.
Govind Shirodkar, chairman of the Wetland Management Committee and the Biodiversity Management Committee, said tree cutting and development activity had been ongoing since last year.
“I had filed a complaint,” he said. He said there is a district court stay till January 8, yet work has started. “We spoke to government representatives about this illegality and asked them to stop the work immediately till the next court order,” he said.
