A day after O Heraldo’s expose on hill cut ting and tree felling in Anju na, angry villagers on Monday stopped ongoing construction work on the shoreline, demand ing answers from authorities over how a government-fund ed project was sanctioned on private land.
The work, worth Rs 73.34 lakh, involves building an an ti-sea protection wall in Survey No 41/3 of VP Anjuna in Siolim constituency — on the same land where the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) had grant ed permission to a private builder on November 7, 2024. “How can the government spend to build a wall that the GCZMA record shows, permission was given to an individ ual? First, our heritage biodiversity is destroyed, secondly a wall is being built in CRZ III area and thirdly at public’s money. This is the height of greed,” said a shocked Anna Fernandes, who was part of a large group of village youth gathered to protest at the site. Documents accessed by O Heraldo indicate that the Water Resource Department (WRD) on July 2, 2025, is sued a Work Order to M/s Aguiar Constructions through Agreement No: AGR/WRD/ASW/24-25/13-1 dated 14/10/2024, for the work of “Construction of Anti-sea Protec-tion wall in Sy No 41/3 in VP Anjuna in Siolim con stituency (Deposit Work)”. The Work Order further reads: “In pursuance to the ap proval conveyed by the Government of Goa, we are pleased to place this order on behalf of the Governor of Goa for an amount of Rs 73,34,856 inclusive of GST which is 20 per cent lower below the estimated cost of Rs 91,68,570 put to tender.” “On one side, we are trying to save whatever little is left of our land and on the other, we have a government that is building a wall that an individual had got permission from the GCZMA for himself. Where are we going?” asked a 20-something Royston Dias. Villagers gathered in large numbers, braving the after noon heat, to protest what they called a blatant bypassing of environmental and local governance laws to benefit private interests. Workers digging sand along the shore line were stopped and questioned by the youth on who had authorised the activity. “How can anyone claim there is a need of an anti-sea protection wall in our area that is covered by rocks. On one hand, our MLA says our land has to be preserved and on the other, she turns a blind eye when we bring such discrepancies to her notice,” complained Ranjit Parsekar. For many of the youngsters gathered, the digging of the area and the cutting of vegetation along the CRZ area is a violation of their birthright to enjoy nature left behind by generations. The Work Order also stated: “Stipulated date of com mencement of work – 17/07/2025 and stipulated date of completion of work – 14/10/2025.” The order is signed by Executive Engineer WD-1, WRD, Porvorim. Shocked by the apathy of officials, the youth marched to the Anjuna Panchayat to inquire whether the WRD had been permitted to build a wall without a Gram Sabha resolution. Former Sarpanch Laxmidas Chimulkar cate gorically told O Heraldo that the panchayat had given no permission for such a project till Saturday, the day he was in charge. Deputy Sarpanch Smita Khorjuvekar was not in office when the youngsters visited in the afternoon. The youth reassembled at around 3.30 pm and stayed put till 5 pm. “It being a Diwali, I was busy doing pujas. I did tell the boys I would be coming but will try and meet them tomor row (October 22) at around 11,” she assured. “We want the Panchayat to issue a stop work order if work is going on without permission as mentioned in your paper by the former sarpanch. And we also demand a vigilance inquiry on how WRD can spend on work in a private property?” wondered Maxcy D’Souza.
