TEAM HERALD
VASCO: Environment Minister Alina Saldanha on Wednesday urged the people of Sancoale to remain firm on whatever stand they took. Her statement, she stressed, was related to issues in general, and not about the marinas.
Saldanha was speaking at the maiden meeting of Sancoale’s Biodiversity Management Committee (BMC) at the panchayat premises.
She said, “I know that very often we intend to take a stand, but there are those who convince us against the stand that we take, and we change it. If we believe what we say is right and is based on truth, then we should stand by what we have said and not let ourselves oscillate from one side to other.”
However, people remained skeptical about her statement being a generalized one. While the panchayat adopted a resolution against the marinas, sources state that a few panch members were in favour of the projects.
Meanwhile, the locals at the event were left red-faced when they noticed that the seven-member committee formed by the gram sabha members on July 27 had been altered.
“We are not going to accept the changes made to the BMC members list as the committee has inducted some new people, while the certain names are thrown out of list without informing the gram sabha,” said RTI activist and Sancoale resident Narayan Naik.
