Carambolim project stop work order will be issued in 3-4 days: CM Sawant

Panaji: Unnerved by the day-long protest by Carambolim residents, including women, on Monday, chief minister Pramod Sawant intervened and assured the protesters that a stop work order would be issued to the developer of the housing project in the village.

In a telephonic chat with the protesters, Sawant said that first, as per procedure, a show cause notice will be issued to the developer on Tuesday.“According to the procedure, a show cause notice has to be issued, which I will ask the department to issue on Tuesday. I will ask the department to convene a board meeting in 3 to 4 days and, at the board meeting, a stop work order will be issued. I spoke to the TCP minister about this issue,” said the CM.Revolutionary Goans (RG) led the day-long protest along with Carambolim residents outside the town and country planning department’s office, here. The residents are opposing a proposed development of a mega housing project comprising 84 residential flats, 46 commercial shops, and a swimming pool.Locals said that when the TCP department approved the project, a 5.5 metre road access was shown in the plans, but a site inspection showed that the road width was just 3.5 metres.

The protesters attempted to rush into the TCP office but were thwarted by police. They attempted to meet TCP chief town planner Vertika Dagur to demand scrapping of the technical permissions.“The chief town planner signs the files but says that she has no rights. When there is a violation, when there is fake documentation, then they have the full right to stop the work,” said RG president Manoj Parab.Parab directly accused TCP minister Vishwajit Rane of favouring builders from other states.RG MLA Viresh Borkar said that the housing project would severely strain the village’s already inadequate infrastructure. The locals staged a sit-in at the office gate, pressing for their demands to be addressed. They refused to leave without an assurance.Opposition leader Yuri Alemao joined the protest at night and said that Congress will support the protest. “We demand the immediate scrapping of all the technical orders that were given. This govt is protecting builders,” he said.The protest began at 9.30am and continued well past 10pm. They threatened to return if the TCP department did not scrap the approvals within 3 days.