At a public meeting at Canaguinim, villagers decided to submit a memorandum to the collector and deputy collector requesting the government to withdraw the decision of handing over the land to the Defence Ministry.
Activist Freddy Fernandes alleged that the transfer of land is illegal as it was acquired for the industrial estate. “We do not have enough water, proper electricity and instead of providing our families with these facilities, the government is inviting an unwanted project in our locality. The government has already given lakhs of square metres to ONGC in the same panchayat and now land for another central government project, which will not provide a single job to our locals. What is the use of such projects?”said Freddy.
Fr Maverick Fernandes, who has extended support to the rally, criticized the government for its dictatorial attitude. He called the DefExpo the biggest land scam.
Local panch Sudhakar Joshi accused the government of being brutal as they had failed to take the locals into confidence before starting the project and are now ignoring genuine objections.
Asked to comment on the matter, Quepem MLA Chandrakant (Babu) Kavalekar said he had objected to the project and had raised the issue in the Assembly. He added that he had asked IDC how it had handed over the land to the Defence Ministry.
“We had acquired this land with the help of all village panchayats for setting up industries. Government must not play with the sentiments of the people. Locals are against the DefExpo and I request the government to consider the sentiments of locals and think of an alternative site for DefExpo,” Kavalekar said.
