TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: The Curtorkarancho Ekvott (CE) has sought the intervention of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar to revoke all permissions issued by the Town and Country Planning department for the 85-room hotel project in Curtorim village.
The local organisation has asked the Chief Minister to withdraw the subsequent permissions issued to the project by the Additional Collector, South and the Curtorim village panchayat. It has also asked the government to stop the proposal of the road widening project and to take stringent action against the TCP officials involved in granting the permission.
Curtorkarancho Ekvott president John Da Silva contended that the proposal for the hotel at Vetnem has been approved without the knowledge of the villagers. “It is extremely disturbing to see that the government has approved a tourism related project of this size and nature in our village, where no tourism activities exist, or have been proposed or discussed in the past, without informing the residents,” he added.
John reminded that the Curtorim gram sabha has repeatedly passed resolutions in the past stating that large projects must be placed before the gram sabha for people’s information, comments and decisions. “These resolutions are not challenged and are still in force, and hence have been strictly adhered to by the Panchayat in the past. In this instance, the Panchayat has failed to carry out its duty,” he added.
Asserting that the TCP department has itself admitted in the note forming the basis of the Technical Clearance, that “There are no organized hotels or resorts in Curtorim village or for that matter in hinterland of Salcete,” John said the introduction of the first hotel in the village therefore amounts to a very significant policy decision for Curtorim. “In these circumstances, to arbitrarily approve an 85-room hotel in such a village violates the principles and laws governing policy formulation. The approval of this hotel, being a major policy decision, cannot be taken without taking the villagers into confidence. Similarly, the Tourism Department should have also been taken into consultation, he said.
