Team Herald
CUNCOLIM: The residents of Betul-Naquri and Morpilla have sought the intervention of Quepem MLA Chandrakant Kavlekar to get the Central government’s defence expo project scrapped. The villagers, led by Barcem ZP member Kushali Velip, also urged Kavlekar to convey their sentiments to Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
Addressing the press, Kushali questioned how the government could use the land for the defexpo project when it had been acquired for setting up an industrial estate. He said, “We had given our land to generate employment for our youth. The government, without taking the locals into confidence, planned to hand over a huge area of land to the Defence Ministry, which is injustice to our youth. We will not keep quite if the government does not withdraw this unwanted proposal.”
He added, “We are not against our country. The government has a lot of land in its possession. Why is it using the land that was acquired for by the Goa Industrial Development Corporation?
The Betul panchayat has convened a gram sabha on Sunday to discuss the issue. It is expected to pass a resolution to oppose the project. The residents of Balli, Barcem, Fatorpa, Naqueri and Kittil are also coming together to oppose the project.
Meanwhile, MLA Kavlekar stated that he is with villagers and if necessary, he would not hesitate to come onto the streets to oppose the project. He said he is not against the Defence Ministry project, but the land had been acquired to set up industries to generate employment for youth.
He said, “I have raised this issue in the assembly. The Central government already has one project in this panchayat and we have had a bitter experience from it. ONGC has not employed a single person from the locality, and the same thing will happen with the defence expo project.”
Kavlekar added, “We are not against this project of national important, but the government must see what problems the local unemployed youth are facing. I urge the Defence Minister to rethink his decision.”
It may recalled that GIDC has decided to hand over around 11 lakh sq mts of land to the Defence Ministry for a biannual defence expo and air show at Betul plateau. The erstwhile Congress government had acquired the land to set up a food park, but after the BJP government was voted in, the project went into cold storage. The locals are urging Parsekar to shift the project to states like Maharashtra or Karnataka, were there is huge areas of land is available.
