Villagers from Chimbel on Monday esca lated their opposition to the proposed Unity Mall and Prashasan Stambh projects, staging a pro test at Dona Paula and accusing the state gov ernment of consistently ignoring their long-stand ing demand to scrap the developments. Dressed in tradition al attire, the protestors adopted stark symbol ic gestures to underline what they described as the “suffocation” faced by the Scheduled Tribe com munity. Several chained themselves and tied creep ers around their hands, asserting that despite the Republic’s promises, they continued to feel marginal ised and excluded. The villagers said the protest, held on Republic Day, was meant to high light what they termed the denial of constitutional rights. “Our protest was an nounced as symbolic, yet our voices are being sup pressed. The government is not willing to listen to us. If this is the situation, then this is not democra cy. This is being done to favour capitalists. We want to convey to our fellow countrymen that we are unhappy with the way the Republic is functioning for us,” said Govind Shirodkar, chairman of the Chimbel Biodiversity Board Com mittee and a key leader of the agitation.
He added that had the Republic functioned in its true spirit, the villagers would not have been compelled to take to the streets. “Unless both the projects are scrapped, our protest will continue,” Shirodkar said. Echoing similar concerns, local resident Ajay Kholkar al leged discrimination, claiming that both the panchayat and the local MLA were siding with the government instead of supporting the villagers’ objections. Earlier in the day, protestors attempted to march to wards the Goa University ground at Bambolim, the venue of the state-level Republic Day celebrations. However, police personnel stopped them at Bambolim and prevented the march from proceeding further. The villagers have now announced a “Maha Andolan – Karo Ya Maro” (do-or-die) agitation in Panjim on January 30, warning of a massive mobilisation if their demands re main unmet. They asserted that the agitation would contin ue until Chief Minister Pramod Sawant formally announces the scrapping of the Unity Mall project, claiming that thou sands are expected to participate in what they described as a decisive movement against the development. Responding to the growing agitation, Chief Minister Pra mod Sawant appealed for calm and urged protestors to wait for the completion of the ongoing land inspection and survey of the Toyyar Lake wetland. The Chief Minister’s Of fice (CMO) said the inspection and survey are expected to be completed by January 27. Following the completion of the process, a meeting will be convened at the earliest to review the findings, the CMO said, adding that the Chief Minister would meet represent atives of the agitators again to discuss the outcome. The CMO further noted that Sawant had met villagers on January 21, during which it was agreed to conduct a joint inspection and survey of the site in the presence of the ag itators, their experts and government officials. It was also agreed that a follow-up meeting would be held after the in spection and survey. Reiterating this assurance on Monday, Sawant said he would meet representatives of the Chimbel villagers again to review the findings of the inspection and survey, which is expected to be completed by Tuesday. The villagers have maintained that the proposed Unity Mall site at the Kadam ba Plateau falls within the zone of influence of the notified Toyyar Lake wetland. Despite the government’s assurances, protest leaders made it clear that the agitation would intensify unless there is a definitive decision to scrap the project, setting the stage for a major confrontation on January 30.
