Team Herald
PANJIM: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday urged the government to take villagers impacted by the Pernem Entertainment Village and the gram sabha into confidence with regard to the project.
Stating that the land is not the private property of Manohar Babu Ajgaonkar and Dayanand Sopte, the AAP found it surprising that time and again the government was not taking Goenkars into confidence before setting up the mega projects.
“The villagers of Pernem, Mandrem and Siolim have not been taken into confidence with this project and once again gram sabhas have been ignored while taking important decisions that impact land usage and other parts of the lives of villagers,” said AAP.
Earlier, this year AAP leader and Mandrem incharge Adv Prasad Shahpurkar led villagers to protest these actions by the Sawant sarkar.
“The BJP government has a habit of behaving like the land belongs to their MLAs and leaders and they have exclusive rights to develop them without consulting Goenkars”, Shahpurkar alleged.
“The same situation was noticed in Shel Melauli where the local MLA Vishwajeet Rane was pushing the mega project down the throats of villagers so that those close to him could profit the most out of it”, Shahpurkar added.
“It may be remembered that in 2016, an Interim Tourism Policy showed that a Gaming District was proposed along the Chapora River in North Goa. This masterplan showed casino-based tourism in large parts of Pernem and Bardez talukas. After public uproar, this part of Tourism Policy was shelved, and the issue was swept under the carpet. However, it appears the same master plan is being executed, but in piecemeal fashion so as to avoid a public backlash. This Entertainment City is the first pieces of the overall masterplan,” AAP stated.
