Stiff resistance from Chimbel villagers forced the postponement of the joint survey of land ear marked for the proposed Unity Mall on Friday, after objections were raised over what residents described as an attempt to limit the scope of the inspection. The survey, scheduled to begin on Friday morn ing, was deferred follow ing sustained protests by villagers, who insisted that the inspection must not be confined to Survey No 40/1 or the immediate project footprint. Instead, they demanded a compre hensive demarcation of the entire wetland system linked to Toyyar Lake, stretching from the lake to the proposed mall site and encompassing the drainage network, buff er zones and the zone of influence. Villagers alleged that the wetland had been wrongly notified and pressed for a fresh survey, inspection, and re-notification to cor rect what they termed se rious errors in the existing notification. The impasse continued throughout the day, with protesters refus ing to allow the inspection to proceed without written assurance on the scope of the survey. Later, the Department of Tourism relented and issued a modified letter agreeing to conduct a joint site inspection of the entire wetland, following which the next inspection was scheduled for 10:30 am on Saturday, January 24. “The resurvey is meant to correct an incorrect no tification. Our opposition to the proposed Unity Mall and Prashasan Stambh pro jects remains unchanged,” villagers clarified. Adv Melisa Simoes, rep resenting the villagers, said officials had earlier agreed only to demarcate Survey No 40/1 and the zone of influence, despite villagers seeking a full wetland demarcation as allegedly assured earlier by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant.
“Today’s inspection did not take place due to confusion regarding the scope of the survey,” she said. Protesters and their legal representatives insisted on written clarification before permitting the survey. Author ities eventually agreed, even as the villagers’ indefinite protest entered its 27th day on Friday. Chimbel Wetland Committee chairman Govind Shirod kar confirmed the postponement of the survey to Satur day morning. After receiving the modified letter from the Department of Tourism, Adv Simoes said, “The entire wetland will be demarcated, and the two reports from the NIO will not be considered. The wetland notification will also be reissued after conducting a fresh survey.” The joint physical and technical inspection will be con ducted using drone mapping and Google imagery and is expected to take three to four days due to the extensive area involved. Architect Hycinth Pinto and TERRA Hydro tech Solutions hydrologist Smitesh Talawadekar will mon itor the survey on behalf of the villagers, along with five village representatives. Senior officials from the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records, the Water Resources Department, the Goa State Biodiversity Board, the National Institute of Ocean ography, and the Goa Tourism Development Corporation are expected to participate. Police personnel will be de ployed during the survey. Former WRD chief engineer and GTDC Special Purpose Vehicle Project Cell chief engineer Pramod Badami said the inspection was being conducted in accordance with the Chief Minister’s directions and that a full wetland sur vey would be undertaken.
