Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Goa Forward Party (GFP) chief Vijai Sardesai on Friday declared that if he becomes Chief Minister, coal transportation in the state will be stopped “completely,” stressing that the next government must be “anti-coal” and that elections should be fought on this issue.
“If I become CM, coal transport in Goa will be stopped. They call it ‘development,’ but it’s nothing more than a coal corridor in the making. The Hosapete–Vasco double tracking isn’t for Goans, it’s for coal, iron ore and steel barons. Goa’s heritage, health and environment cannot be sacrificed at the altar of corporate greed,” Sardesai asserted.
He said the Union Ministry has finally admitted that double tracking is meant for coal transportation, exposing the state government’s repeated claims to the contrary. “Mormugao is already devastated by coal pollution, and now the BJP government wants to destroy our villages from Velsao to Collem as well,” he alleged.
Separately, Sardesai also demanded a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the recent student deaths at BITS Pilani, Goa campus. Quoting concerns raised by parents, he said the new Vice-Chancellor was “strict and calls parents for silly reasons,” which, he claimed, was putting students under pressure.
