NT NETWORK
CANACONA
The Loliem-Polem panchayat, at the special gram sabha held on Sunday, failed to pass a resolution on the IIT proposed to come up atop the Bhagvati plateau in Loliem with the sarpanch and secretary whisked away from the venue amidst protests by villagers.
Around 1,700 villagers from Iddar-Poinguinnim, Loliem, Polem and Maxem attended the meeting that was marred by chaos with the villagers questioning the panchayat officials on the ‘‘ill-effects’’ of the IIT on basic amenities like water, electricity, roads. Canacona deputy collector, joint mamlatdar Gauns Desai, DySP Sammy Tavares, PSI Prashal Desai and about 100 police personnel including lady police constables were also present at the venue.
Government officials including education secretary Neela Mohanan tried to allay villagers’ fears but to no avail. She said that not more than 1 MLD water will be needed for the IIT and that all other issues have been worked out.
Officials also tried to allay people’s fears that over 20,000 students and teachers would come to the village and outnumber the 5,000 villagers.
On ecology at Bhagvati plateau, Mohanan said that all precautions will be taken to maintain it and clearances taken from the forest and environment department. However, with the protest continuing, the sarpanch adjourned the meeting without any voting.
After the adjournment, about 600 villagers assembled at the venue along with panchas Santan Costa, Virendra Naik, Ashutosh and Shailesh Pagi and resolved to continue to protest against the project. They said that they will forward a resolution to the panchayat director in this regard.