PANJIM: Alleging a major scam in the proposed Tiracol golf course and resort project in Pernem taluka, the Congress party has demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry against Environment Minister Alina Saldanha and officials of State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA) and Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) for fraudulently granting clearances to the project.
The opposition has also accused Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, in whose constituency the ambitious project is supposed to come up, of shielding the illegalities at the behest of vested interests.
A golf course resort by Leading Hotels Ltd at Tiracol village was proposed during the then Digamber Kamat-led government, and has been carried forward by the BJP government. Leading Hotels Pvt Ltd had acquired over 9.90 lakh square metres of land at Tiracol during the Congress government for a golf course and a resort.
Addressing media persons, Congress spokesperson Sunil Kawthankar alleged that despite seeking the environment minister’s intervention in the controversial project, which is strongly opposed by the Tiracol villagers, the government has failed to act and has gone ahead and granted all the environment clearances to the project.
“This project is a big scam wherein almost the entire land of Tiracol has been grabbed by the Delhi based company and also the tenant land is being illegally granted conversion sanad by the authorities,” the Congress leader alleged.
“We demand a CBI inquiry against the state environment minister, other ministers and officials and scientists of SEIAA for fraudulently granting clearances,” he said adding “the entire project is being pushed hurriedly at the behest of some vested interest.”
Kawthankar said that despite the project being considered as ‘A’ category project as per environmental norms and is also part of coastal regulation zone (CRZ) area; the SEIAA has, without conducting any environment impact assessment (EIA) granted environment clearance to the project. “EC has to be granted by Union Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) and not by a local authority,” he said.
Pointing to National Green Tribunal’s Pune bench order issued on April 16, Kawthankar said that the court has observed that EC from the MoEF is necessary for the project. The matter was filed before NGT by advocate Sunil Shetye.
Meanwhile, accusing the BJP-led government of shielding drug peddlers, Congress on Friday demanded a CBI inquiry in the politicians-police-drug peddler nexus.
Addressing media persons, Congress spokesperson Agnelo Fernandes alleged that ministers are currently involved in taking ‘protection money’ from drug peddlers. “There is a clear cut nexus between politicians-police-drug peddlers,” he said.
Fernandes, a former Congress MLA from the coastal belt, demanded that the CBI should take cognizance of the increasing number of drug cases and investigate the nexus. He also said that the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), which has been defunct for quite some time, needs to come down heavily on the drug trade.
Congress argued that despite submitting enough evidence with names of drug peddlers and police involved in the crime to the investigating agencies, there has been no action so far.
