Goa: 66 held for protest during survey, released

About 66 protesters, many of them from Goa Forward Party, were detained Friday after they protested during a survey by government officials for construction of a link road to the under-construction airport at Mopa in north Goa. They were released later in the evening.

Earlier, villagers had protested against acquisition of land for the link road leading to the upcoming airport project.

GFP vice-president Durgadas Kamat said: “Police detained 66 people and about 90 per cent of them are from our party. They were led by advocate Jitendra Gaonkar of GFP. They were brought to Mapusa police station from Pernem Police Station and detained till the evening. Meanwhile, the survey that was interrupted was carried out.” He said the party would deliberate over the next step.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told reporters: “I held two meetings with the people who protested. We have told them we want to resolve their issues. We have held meetings and opened all options for them.”

Deputy Chief Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar said: “They had claimed that their homes and farms would be lost in the wake of the project. That is why they were told to let the government carry out a survey to assess these claims”

The link road will connect parts of Goa to the under-construction greenfield airport at Mopa. The Supreme Court had in January 2020 cleared the decks for the construction of the airport by lifting the suspension on the environmental clearance granted to the project.