Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: A large number of villagers from Chimbel gathered near Merces junction and later at the Goa Assembly today to press for the scrapping of the proposed Unity Mall project.
The protesters rejected Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s suggestion to send a four-member delegation to the Assembly, insisting that either the CM himself appear in the House or provide a clear assurance to scrap the project. MLAs Viresh Borkar and Venzy Viegas joined the demonstration in support of the villagers.
The protesters had given the government a half-hour window to announce its decision in the Assembly. When police informed them that no such assurance had been given, and that the Chief Minister had instead called a delegation for discussions, the villagers launched a sit-in protest outside the House.
They demanded a firm commitment from the government to remove the Unity Mall project from its current site. Additionally, the protesters urged the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) to prepare a scientific report to define the proper buffer zone and zone of influence of the Toyyar Lake wetland.
Villagers alleged that the government was ignoring the full 85,000-square-metre zone of influence and had recognized only 1.75 lakh square metres as wetland. They demanded that the entire 2.6 lakh square metre area be re-notified officially as wetland.
The protest escalated after reports emerged of signal jammers allegedly deployed to block live media coverage. Journalists confronted DIG Varsha Sharma over the interference, and the issue was subsequently raised in the Assembly. Connectivity was restored, allowing media outlets to resume live reporting of the morcha.
