Team Herald
PERNEM: Pernem taluka in its recent political history is known for projects that turned out to be either white elephant or remain on paper. The eagerly anticipated project of Electronic City at Tuem is on the way to follow the same fate.
The Mandrem constituency has been riddled with unemployment issue for years and so keeping in mind the future, the then chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar laid the foundation for Electronic City at Tuem and completed all the official formalities. However, not a single project has been brought to operation here in last five years. The premises has a full-fledged network of internal roads but it’s yet to be connected with National Highway 66. This has prevented from bringing big machineries to the project.
The land used for the project was earlier given to locals on lease for farming but Parsekar acquired 6.5 lakh square metres of this space and handed it to the government without compensating the locals. The foundation stone for the project was laid by PM Narendra Modi from Panjim virtually during his visit to the State 5 years ago.
Last year Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant had announced that a foundation for a big company will be laid in the area dedicated for IT project before the assembly polls, a promise that has not come to fruition. Sawant was asked regarding the same when he had come at Tiracol on Tuesday to which he responded saying, “Two to four companies will soon be started here.”
When contacted, Mandrem newly-elected MLA Jit Arolkar said, “I’ll take this issue to the government and try to get good businesses here. Mandrem has serious problem of unemployment and I’m keeping an eye on various mediums to reduce that.”
Panch Uday Mandrekar has alleged that lease holders are still not compensated for the loss of their lands. “The villagers had expectations from this project. If this endeavour takes off then at least 80% of village youth will be benefitted from this. Unfortunately, not a single business has been brought here yet and I urge Jit Arolkar to make this happen,” he said.
The locals have also tied their hopes on new IT Minister Rohan Khaunte who has visited the site but so far, no definite action has been taken.
