Pits at Mirabag will be filled up from March 3, says WRD

Margao: Intensifying their agitation against a proposed bandhara project, residents of Mirabag gheraoed the assistant engineer of the water resources department (WRD) in Sanguem, extracting a written assurance that the excavated pits at the bandhara site would be filled, with work towards this end commencing from March 3.

The gherao marked the latest flashpoint in a simmering agitation that has gripped Mirabag-Curchorem for weeks. Just days earlier, hundreds of residents stormed the Sanvordem panchayat office, demanding the scrapping of the proposed 50MLD (million litres per day) bandhara project and accusing elected representatives of complicity in a scheme thrust upon the village without consultation.


That protest came a day after villagers took out a torchlight procession from Curchorem to Mirabag.

Residents fear that the proposed barrage and the 50MLD raw water pumping station on the Zuari river would not only trigger flooding and destroy fertile agricultural land, but would also cause irreversible environmental damage.

Among the persistent grievances was the unsafe condition of trenches that were dug by the bandhara contractor, which residents flagged as a serious safety hazard. After the assistant engineer was gheraoed, the WRD issued a written commitment that the filling of these pits would begin on March 3.

Residents also reiterated their core demand — the immediate and unconditional scrapping of the bandhara project.

The agitation, which is now in its third week, saw the sit-in protest at Mirabag continue uninterrupted, with villagers pressing panchayat members to either actively oppose the project or resign from their posts.