PANJIM: Environmental activists Pravinsingh Shedgaonkar and Swapnesh Sherlekar have objected to the proposed Mini India theme park to be established in the Pernem taluka.
In a letter written to the managing director of Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC),
Pravimal Abhishek Polumatla, IAS, they have pointed out that on the midnight of October 1, 2023, a leopard was sighted near the Pernem garbage treatment plant, which is just adjacent to the identified project site.
Sighting of the leopard in the vicinity is not a one-off instance and there were many previous sightings that were reported by locals to an extent that Forest Department officials had also laid a trap for catching the leopard in the past, they have stated.
“The leopard is recognised as a Schedule 1 species as per Wild Life Protection Act 1972. Species on this list have absolute protection, as being endangered species and therefore projects of such nature cannot be permitted in the natural habitat of the leopard. The recent sighting is recorded after the first objection filed by us on July 28, 2023. Thus, we are now constrained to bring this important fact before the authority for consideration before decision making in the matter,” they said.
In June this year, the State government had given the go-ahead to Pune-based real estate firm BramhaCorp Theme Park LLP to set up the theme park on a private land measuring 97,224 square metres in survey numbers 310/0 and 311/0 in the Pernem Municipal Council jurisdiction.
In August, the Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation Board (IPB) had proposed to de-notify the buffer zone around the waste management plant to set up the park and also notified it as an investment promotion area.
The project has already irked the Pernem residents. The local believe that the government, after showing carrots of employment, is now once again trying to fool the people of the taluka by forcing another mega project on them in the form of ‘Mini-India Theme Park’ (‘Mini India project’), which was earlier rejected by the villagers of Quelossim and Bogmalo in Mormugao taluka.
The GIDC managing director is hearing objections received with reference to the proclamation in respect of the Theme Park project proposed in a private land at Pernem. The proclamation was issued by the State government in June this year and the Directorate of Industries, Trade and Commerce had given 30-day window for public to raise objections if any to the project.
