PANAJI: Chimbel residents, during a gram sabha held on Sunday, unanimously decided to resist the Goa Tourism Development Corporation’s move to build a Unity Mall in the village. The gram sabha members argued that the proposed location for the mall is “a wetland area adjacent to Chimbel lake”, which is considered ecologically fragile. They said that the site must be conserved and that no construction should be allowed.
Biodiversity Management Committee chairperson Govind Shirodkar said, “We are not opposed to the Unity Mall, we are opposing the proposed location. Let tourism minister Rohan Khaunte take this project to his constituency. Why is he hell-bent on disrupting the lives of people belonging to the Scheduled Tribes?”
He alleged that numerous trees have already been cut down for the project, and that this will result in significant harm to the environment. “Earlier, govt wanted to set up an IT park at the same location; this time they want a mall there, but we will oppose it tooth and nail,” he said.
Sarpanch Sandesh Shirodkar said that no application has been submitted to the panchayat by any authority seeking permission for the proposed Unity Mall project. Despite this, he pledged his support to the villagers in their resistance against the project.
Meanwhile, the residents also resolved that the provisional No Objection Certificate (NOC) granted to a property developer for the sub-division of plots to make way for a mega construction project near the village crematorium should be revoked.
