150 days of protest, at tempts to reach out to the government and even a visit to the Assembly com plex have finally produced what the Karapur-Sarvan villagers had been demanding all along — a meeting with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. As the agitation against the pro posed mega housing project entered its 150th day on Tuesday, Sawant as sured Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao on the floor of the Assembly that he would meet the protesters on Thursday, September 3. “I will meet them day after,” Sawant said. The assurance came only after the issue of prolonged agitation was raised during Zero Hour, with Alemao point ing out that the villagers had been forced to remain on the streets for nearly five months because of the gov ernment’s failure to address their con cerns. He urged the Chief Minister to initiate a dialogue with the protesters.
The assurance comes amid grow ing frustration among the villagers, who for the last two days had been trying to meet the Chief Minister, Cabinet Ministers and MLAs at the Assembly complex in Porvorim to place their grievances and demands before the government. At Karapur, residents joined social activists, environmentalists and political representatives to mark the 150th day of the agitation. The protesters marched from the pro test venue to the project site, raising slogans and questioning the govern ment’s continued silence. The activists who joined the pro test extended their support to the villagers and said they would con tinue standing with them until the proposed mega housing project was scrapped. GAKUVED Federation president Govind Shirodkar said the protest ing villagers belonged to ST com munities and appealed to them to remain united. Dr Swapnil Salelkar said women from the village had overcome the pressure and taken the lead in protecting their resources and village. He pointed out that they had travelled to Jantar Mantar in New Delhi to protest on the 100th day of the agitation. He appealed to the people not to remain under “govern ment slavery” and urged them to stand up for their rights. “We have learnt a lesson and realised who the true leaders are and who the fake leaders are.
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We will adopt a cautious approach in the future,” he said. Addressing the protesters, GPCC president Girish Chodankar also raised the issue of the arrest of two Kara pur youths in connection with an alleged extortion case, questioning the role of the Goa Police after Maharashtra Police detained the two at Van-Maulinguem and subse quently arrested them within Maharashtra jurisdiction. DGP Alok Kumar clarified that the arrests were made by Maharashtra Police and not Goa Police. “They have not been arrested by Goa Police. They have been arrested by Maharashtra Police. If required, we also make arrests in other states,” Kumar said. When asked whether Maharashtra Police had consulted their Goa counterparts before making the arrests, Kumar said, “We will look into it. We will share the details with you.” The extortion case has also become a point of contention within the village. Karapur-Sarvan panchayat members, at a press conference, said the case involving Siddhesh Tari and Pritesh Salgaonkar had brought several issues sur rounding the agitation into focus.
The panchayat members alleged that Tari had, over the past few months, accused panchayat members of accepting money from the project’s builder and supporting the pro ject. They claimed the allegations were intended to mislead villagers and create an atmosphere against the panchayat. They further alleged that the extortion case had raised questions over activities being carried out in the name of the agitation and claimed that the involvement of certain individuals had diverted the direction of the protest and affected the atmosphere in the village. Despite the differences, the panchayat members said they would continue working with the villagers to pursue their interests and seek a lawful resolution.
