It is one thing to forcibly try and bring a massive project that will occupy 88,000 square meters in their beloved village; it is another to belittle the voice of the village in which you are seeking to build the largest residential complex in.
The comments made by Raheja senior officials at the hurriedly called press conference in Margao hasn’t been received well by the villagers of Carmona, neighbouring villages and other sympathetic Goan residents.
That there was opposition from only ‘a few’ and their stated inability to fathom ‘what the hue and cry is about’ simply added insult to injury. Come next Sunday, next extra ordinary gram sabha that everyone has been waiting for, the villagers are more than ready to step up the ante and save their riverside village’s delicate infrastructure from unwanted burden.
Moreover, the threat from Rahejas that they would go to the court if their application for construction license is rejected by the panchayat and then drop the 3.5 crore CSR plan has only caused further unrest in the village.
What has struck a nerve with the villagers is the mindset of the real estate company that the village would agree on the grounds of proposed CSR for the village when the villagers do not want the real estate project because of the damage they believe it will cause to their land, ecology, demography, community and peaceful living conditions.
Some of them already predict a Sancoale panchayat like situation where all migrants were elected as panch members at this week’s elections; others have taken encouragement in the way Cansaulim gram sabha has fought against the Arossim beach hotel project.
One of the prime reasons why the villagers are opposing the project is because they want to preserve their village and calls for large scale urbanisation in the name of development will only change the identity of Carmona. The farmers of the village will set to be sidelined, the tiny roads will have to accommodate 100 odd cars and 200 odd bikes, the infrastructure of the village whatever the claims of Rahejas are, will still get affected and as Fr Savio Fernandes said, the project won’t benefit the village but will be at its cost
A day after Rahejas hurriedly called press conference in Margao, Soccoro Miranda, speaking on behalf of the Carmona Village committee said that they will respond to Raheja’s message at the extra ordinary gram sabha loud and clear.
When the pancahyat was asked about Rahejas resubmitting the CSR, they stated that it was not considered as it had already been rejected by the villagers and only the technical aspect of their application had been looked into. While the role of the government has come under scrutiny not only for amending the building laws to allow such a project, the government that has given all the permissions stands to benefit from the Raheja’s CSR project at Carambolim lake at the cost of Rs 80 lakhs.
There is also suspicion suspicious that it was meant just as a ruse to get permissions and once the construction works begin no CSR would come forward due to various clauses that they are waiting for government approvals. This was echoed in the press conference where Raheja officials said they can begin parallel work provided the panchayat completes all the formalities.
The universal sentiment among all those opposing the project is that the panchayat has to reject the construction license and anything else would be a betrayal despite whatever clarifications issued by the pancahayat about their actions. The Carmona village committee is busy preparing itself from a legal point of view as they aim at not only blocking Rahejas project but also set a precedent for future real estate companies wishing to displace them in their own hometown.
This will reflect in the unanimous opposition to be conveyed to the panchayat at Sunday’s gram sabha
