A large number of protestors from across the State on Thursday converged in Panjim, demanding the immediate dismissal of Town and Country Planning Minister Vishwajit Rane over an alleged the indiscriminate land conversions and zone changes during his tenure.
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The protestors later marched to the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s official residence at Altinho, to submit their representation signed by over 700 signatories, but were stopped by a large posse of police personnel. They demanded that a three-member delegation be allowed to meet the chief minister and submit their representation, but the Tiswadi Mamlatdar requested them to give their representation to him and that he will submit it to the chief minister. The protestors accused the police of violating their democratic rights by stopping them. After nearly an hour, the police agreed to allow a delegation to meet the Chief Minister.
Accordingly, environmentalists Dr Claude Alvares, Swapnesh Sherlekar and Direndra Phadte went to the chief minister’s residence to submit their representation but were disappointed over Sawant’s absence. After returning to the protest site, Sherlekar said, “It was a joke on us and a joke on Goans that the CM was not at his official residence.
This shows that the government does not work for us. It is also a case for every Goan to note that ministers have no time to meet the people. The government is working against the people of Goa.” “I think that it is a very sorry state. My impression of Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has fallen by 40 to 50%. I respect him because he is a doctor. But what is the nature of the com munication between the bungalow upstairs and the people here and the police and the mamlatdar,” Claude Alvares said.
