Govt8217;s designs on Gorai flayed

MUMBAI, July 13: The state government's decision to allot 700 acres of marshy land at the Gorai-Manori islands to the Esselworld amusement p...

MUMBAI, July 13: The state government8217;s decision to allot 700 acres of marshy land at the Gorai-Manori islands to the Esselworld amusement park and Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation MTDC for tourism purposes has been opposed by the local farming and fishing communities.

Addressing a press conference, Lourdes D8217;Souza of the Gorai Bachao Sangharsh Samiti said the proposal violates the Coastal Regulation Zone CRZ and is earmarked as a No development Zone as per a 1983 government resolution GR. The proprietor of Esselworld, Subash Chandra Goel, has reneged on his promises on building a road, hospital and school at Gorai and instead, has filled up the marshy land and chopped mangroves, destroying the ecosystem, alleged D8217;Souza. The amusement park, which had recently introduced a quot;waterworldquot; park as well, utilises around 80 water tankers every day from the village borewells, due to which water levels have been on the decline, added D8217;Souza.

The 21,000-odd villagers are also opposed to theconstruction of a 325-feet Pagoda for the proposed Vipassana centre in Gorai village. As they are to the sanction of 20 acres of collector8217;s land for the construction of an old age home in Gorai. quot;We have always been denied permission to construct a house or any extension on the pretext that the land comes under the No Development Zone, but there seems to be a separate set of rules when it comes to big private developers and the government,quot; remarked Noel Kini, president of the Gorai Machimar Sahakari Sangh.

Damodar Tandel, president of the Akhil Bharatiya Machimar Kruti Samiti, said the government has never taken the villagers into confidence over any of the projects. quot;If things continue in this fashion, we are also ready to sacrifice ourselves to save what is left of villagers8217; land,quot; he declared.

The island villages of Gorai, Kulvem and Manori do not even have basic infrastructure like water connections, schools, hospitals, electricity and a post office in place, pointed out Rinny D8217;Mello, a resident.The residents, egged on by an incident last week when they forced a local Member of the Legislative Assembly to postpone a foundation stone laying ceremony for a project, have now decided to stage a morcha to the collector8217;s office at Borivli on July 15 to register their protest.