Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral had to beat a hasty retreat from the site of presentation on the draft Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) held for Salcete taluka in Margao on Saturday after the audience booed him and did not allow him to speak. They demanded that the draft CZMP be scrapped outright.
A crowd of nearly 600 people gathered at the Ravindra Bhavan with black flags and placards to protest against the presentation held by the Minister for Environment. They shouted slogans against the minister and hurled abuses for over 45 minutes which upset the minister.
Alleging that some activists and politicians of the opposition parties are misguiding the people, Cabral promised to prepare a people’s plan after completing the presentations on draft CZMP in all the talukas. He said that such presentations though are not a part of the process. “The presentation on draft CZMP is to explain to the people what the CRZ 2011 notification is,” he said.
Reacting to the protests, the visibly upset minister said, “Today’s presentation was for the people to understand what the CZMP is and what you can suggest and what we can do. People were shouting from behind. We completed the showing of the slides. Some vested interests raised their voices. Even though this presentation is not a part of the procedure, we tried to present it, taking pains to show first what the CRZ 2011 is,” Cabral said and added that the presentation was 90 per cent complete when some vested interests disturbed the meeting.