Protest at Old Goa temporarily suspended till weather improves

Times of India | 1 month ago | 10-08-2022 | 02:40 am

Panaji: Volunteers of the Save Old Goa Action Committee have temporarily suspended their ongoing satyagraha owing to heavy rainfall warnings. The volunteers are protesting the illegal structure in the world heritage site of Old Goa and demanding its demolition. The protest had completed 223 days till July 5.“Due to heavy rainfall, it has been very windy and we want to avoid any potential disastrous situation,” said the committee’s treasurer Hugo Gonsalves. “We will resume the agitation when the weather condition improves.”The agitation was initially suspended on a temporary basis for three weeks owing to the extended rainfall warning. However, with the progress of monsoon and increase in rainfall, the suspension has been further postponed, indefinitely.The Save Old Goa Action Committee will attend a hearing in the matter of the illegal bungalow on August 17 at the directorate of panchayats in Panaji. TOI had earlier reported that citizens across Goa expressed their disapproval over the illegal construction by holding protests and large gatherings in solidarity with the activists leading the protest.The protestors had also started an indefinite hunger strike from November 23, 2021, onwards demanding that the government revokes the licenses and demolishes the illegal structure.On a daily basis, the protest would see about seven to eight protestors at the site, at the precincts of St Cajetan Church, with a bigger crowd showing solidarity on the weekends.

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