Panaji, Mar 6 (PTI) Four people were detained on Friday after they staged a protest from the visitors’ gallery in the Goa assembly on the opening day of the budget session, over the proposed dam on the Zuari River.
The protest drew criticism from Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who called the disruption a “terrorist kind of attitude”.
The 17-day budget session of the state assembly began at 11.30 am, and soon after it commenced, four persons sitting in the visitors’ gallery shouted slogans and displayed placards.
The protesters were part of the agitation against the proposed dam on the Zuari River at Mirabag village in Kushawati district, where villagers have been staging a sit-in protest for the last 25 days against the project, over fear that 500 houses would be inundated due to the reservoir.
Amid the sloganeering, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant told the House that the protesters should be arrested immediately.
“We can’t tolerate this behaviour in the House. This is a terrorist kind of attitude. You are doing this now, tomorrow you may even fire bullets,” he said, even as commotion continued for a few minutes in the House.
Goa Forward Party MLA Vijai Sardesai said that the protesters had reached the House, as the government had refused to give them a hearing, despite their 25-day-long protest.
Assembly marshals immediately swung into action, detaining the four protesters.
Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLA Sudin Dhavalikar told Speaker Ganesh Gaonkar that he had not seen such behaviour in 27 years of his career and demanded strict action against protesters.
Incidentally, Mirabag village falls under the Sanvordem assembly constituency, represented by Speaker Gaonkar.
Water Resources Minister Subhash Shirodkar, referring to the Opposition benches, told the House, “This is not the way to win an election”.
The dam is being constructed to fulfil drinking water requirements of the future, Shirodkar said, adding that water from the Zuari River, which flows into the sea, will be dammed.
The House resumed the usual business after the protesters were removed from the gallery.
The chief minister will table the state budget later in the day. PTI RPS ARU
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