On Sunday, Chimbel villagers launched a desperate hunger strike against the controversial Unity Mall project, accusing authorities of flouting a Panjim Sessions Court stay. The protest intensified on Saturday as demonstrators claim the local panchayat issued a construction licence despite the judicial order remaining in force until January 8, 2026.
The Unity Mall, proposed by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) on the ecologically sensitive Toyyar Lake wetland, has faced fierce opposition. Chimbel Village Panchayat initially denied permission after three gram sabha resolutions rejected the plan. GTDC challenged this before the Tiswadi Block Development Officer (BDO), who ordered licence issuance within 24 hours on November 27, 2025. Appeals reached the Directorate of Panchayats, which upheld the BDO, and eventually the Sessions Court, where Govind Shirodkar – Chairman of the Chimbel Biodiversity Management Committee and Wetland Toyyar Lake, secured the stay on December 6.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Shirodkar informed the sarpanch and secretary via message after unanswered calls, but construction began the next day following Zilla Panchayat results. Villagers like Ajay Kholkar decry the imposition on their tribal community, whose livelihoods depend on the historic lake that supplied water to Panjim during Portuguese-era shortages in 1908.
Protesters demand GTDC halt work, citing no Wetland Act provision for construction NOCs despite ministerial claims.
