Sanvordekars oppose Rs 280 cr Bandara for fear of submerging entire village

SANVORDEM: Residents of Mirabag-Sanvordem are opposing the Rs 280 crore bandara proposed on River Zuari, at Sanvordem. This Water Resources Department project aims to pump water from the bandara to Panchwadi and promote tourism by launching tourist boats. Locals fear and question as to how can there be a Rs 280 crore bandara. They suspect it must be a mini dam, which will submerge the entire village along with their house, the Rakhandev Temple and a Ganapathi Visarjan site.
They allege that the local panch did not inform residents about the project. Villagers argue that the project will affect the entire area upto Mugoli Sanguem, where houses are adjacent to the Zuari River and will cause flooding and submerge the houses.
When villagers learned about the project, they held a meeting  with Sanvordem MLAs Ganesh Gaonkar, Curchorem MLA  Nilesh Cabral, Sarpanch Chinmayi Naik, Chairperson Pradeep Naik, and other panchas.
Residents fear that water stored in the proposed bandara will damage their homes, especially during the rainy season when the area is already prone to flooding. Additionally, the downstream area will be affected by high tides, potentially submerging their houses.
Villagers are also complaining that a number of mangrove trees were cut for this project. They told O Heraldo that they have written letters to the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, the WRD and other related departments.
Resident of Mirabag, Dhana Naik, “The local panch has not taken us into confidence. The local MLA must also be looking at his benefit from the boating and other activities that will come up. That’s why this secret plan to build the bandara. They want to take revenge on us and we know this. They try to pressurise those who talk. We don’t care. We are ready to fight. We will decide. We don’t want to be betrayed.”
Another resident Sumit Naik said, “If the bandara is of Rs 280 crores it will surely be a dam. If a dam comes up the entire Mirabag village will be submerged. The department people came and started cutting the trees and did soil testing. Not a single villager knew about what was going on. So all the villagers called for a meeting to save our future. Our village can be submerged after five or 10 years.”
Resident Vishwamala Naik said, “We don’t want the bandara whether it is a state or central project. It will surely submerge our village. Most of the houses are located near the river bank. Even now water seeps in the houses during high tide especially during the monsoon. Earlier too we have had floods. We request the CM to support us and scrap this bandara project.”
Sanket Bhandari narrated how his house is close to the banks of the tributary of Zuari and is under threat of flooding. “The government primary school in the village was damaged when a year ago when the river overflowed. The walls of the school can collapse any moment.”