MargaO: Leader of Opposition Chandrakant (Babu)Kavlekar while accusing the BJP governments of being insensitive to the concerns of the people over the CRZ amendment, demanded the notification be immediately de-notified at least for the State of Goa.
Briefing media persons, he said lakhs of people had lodged their objection to the proposed amendment, but the government fooled the people by stating that that was not the time to file objections and suddenly notified the amendment thus depriving the people of their right to protest or object.
He blamed both the BJP-led governments at the Centre and the State for not heeding the pleas of the people. “While the State government gave a false letter saying it has no objection to the amendment, the Centre did not at all consider the various objections lodged by the people before it,” Kavlekar said.
He said reducing the No Development Zone to 50 mts from the High Tide Line will change the lives of the traditional fishing community who are rightly fighting against the amendment. He said that Congress would join the protest organised by the National Fishworkers Forum at Lohia Maidan on Saturday.
“Goans will no longer be able to go for a picnic at the beach in future as it will all be occupied by hotels and those wanting to go to the beach will have to book a room in a hotel and then go to the beach,” he said.
Stating that Congress had opposed the amendment right from the beginning, he said the GPCC as well as the Congress Legislature Party had written to the government objecting to the amendments. “But the governments did not consider their protest,” he regretted.
He also pointed out that all the three members of Parliament including the Union minister are silent on this issue and appealed to the people to ask them about this amendment when they come to seek their votes.
Kavlekar said the State government was only hoodwinking the people as it did for one year over the mining issue and after wasting one whole year by giving false promises, it is now saying that the State will have to solve that problem.
To a question, he said the Congress would definitely de-notify the CRZ notification if elected to power at the Centre.
