Those opposing Mollem projects are ‘abroad’: Goa CM Pramod Sawant

PANAJI: Reacting to the stiff opposition from people to three major projects at Mollem in Bhagvan Mahavir wildlife sanctuary, chief minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday claimed that these perons are from Africa, England and Russia.
“Sometimes I don’t understand why people who do not know where Mollem is, express their views from foreign countries,” Sawant said.
“Residents of Mollem feel that double tracking of railway and widening of road will benefit them,” he said.
The chief minister said that a lot of people are hell-bent on criticising the government.
“We want power and water 24x7. Along with good environment, we need good transport facilities and quality roads. The government is not here to destroy environment, we are here to preserve. If we cut 10 trees, we will plant 100 trees,” he said.
He further said the government has decided to install charging stations across the state to encourage use of electric vehicles.
He distributed subsidy to individuals and commercial establishments who have installed solar panels on their rooftop for power generation.
Power minister Nilesh Cabral said that more than 55 people have installed solar panels so far. He said that government has made provision for providing subsidy to another 500 people to install solar panels. Cabral said that in future all the subsidies would be disbursed in time.
“The government will come out with a new scheme to install solar water pump,” he said.
“We will require people’s support to buy electric cars and have green environment realistically, unlike Delhi. We have equal population of vehicles and people in the state,” Cabral said.
“We will come out with a scheme to increase purchase of electric cars to protect the environment,” he said.