Panaji, the capital of Goa state, witnessed non-stop protests for four days, with thousands of citizens gathering in the state capital to demand the government to repeal the controversial Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning Act. This provision, passed in 2024, gives the Department of City and Country Planning the power to change land zoning, including converting “green” areas, where construction is not permitted, into “settlement” areas, thus opening them up for construction.
The movement, led by opposition parties including the Goan Revolutionary Party, Congress, Aam Aadmi Party and others, and titled ‘Karo ya maru’ (Do or Die), continued till late into the night. The demonstrators marched more than 10 kilometers from Azad Square, a public space in the city, to the residence of Town and Country Planning Minister Vishwajit Rane in Doña Paula on the outskirts of the city, overcoming several police barricades. Rani was not at home at that time.
Speaking to the media late on Tuesday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said protesters have the right to protest but they must maintain decorum.
“They have the right to protest, but it has to be within limits. They can protest at Azad Maidan. They have to give proper representation. The collector is there, and he can always hand it over to him. No one stopped them. But to walk to the minister’s house and put the law in their hands is inappropriate, and MLAs have no right to do that,” Sawant said on Monday evening.
The protests are being led by Viresh Borkar, an MLA for San Andre constituency, who, along with villagers from Palem Siridao, demanded the withdrawal of five notifications that converted nearly 100,000 square meters of orchards, private forests and non-developable land into settlement areas on the hill overlooking the village. Local residents said this meant the end of their village.
“Under this oath, large-scale land conversion is being allowed, and it is destroying entire villages all over Goa. We demand that this oath be scrapped. Until this demand is met, I will continue my hunger strike,” Borkar said.
The first protest was held on Wednesday, when villagers held a torchlight march across the village demanding cancellation of the notification. The next day, hundreds of villagers gathered at the Town and Country Planning Department office and camped outside, demanding the notice be cancelled. When their request was not granted, they decided to stay in the office all night and did so until they were forcefully evacuated on Saturday. Following this, Burkar called for a “huge” protest on Sunday, attended by more than 10,000 people.
When a similar large crowd gathered on Monday evening, the protesters decided to march to Rani’s residence and have now decided to continue the protest there.
Section 39(A), a controversial provision, is the subject of several ongoing protests in the state, with residents of various villages, including Arambol and Mandrem in North Goa, and Sankwale and Pitki Kandola in South Goa, demanding withdrawal of land transfers in their villages.
Rane described the protest as a “blackmail” tactic and demanded that Borkar discuss the issue in the Legislative Assembly and not on the streets. He has not yet commented on the ongoing protest outside his residence.
