Team Herald
MAPUSA: The authorities had to bow down to the people of Nerul and issue stop work orders to a company erecting a mobile tower in the market area much against the wishes of the people.
In the evening, Bardez Mamlatdar Rajaram Parab visited the protest site and handed over a copy of the stop work order issued by Deputy Collector Bardez which stated that no work would be done at the site till Monday and the villagers to be called to discuss the vexatious issue.
Earlier, tension prevailed at Nerul on Thursday, after a large number of villagers, including women blocked the main road demanding the immediate dismantling of the cellphone tower which came overnight near the market.
The irate villagers blocked the road for the whole day and refused to move since the authorities failed to keep their word on the issue and were conspicuous by their absence.
Villagers said that they were not taken into confidence and were being misguided on the issue.
“First, we were told that a high-mast pole was being installed, later they said they were doing soil testing to construct a bore well and now a tower has come up overnight. We were misled and we don’t want such a tower in a residential area which also has a market and a school nearby,” Bappa Korgaonkar said.
Saligao MLA Kedar Naik and a posse of policemen headed by Porvorim DySP Vishwesh Karpe rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control.
The locals claimed that the tower could pose a serious health hazard through its radiation and said that Nerul had a history of opposing cellphone towers and would never allow one to come up in the near future.
Residents warned that if the mobile tower is not dismantled within a day, then they would be forced to intensify their agitation.
Former sarpanch Reshma Kalangutkar said, “The panchayat did raise its objection to it but we were helpless and had no say in it since it was a Central government project.”