We, the residents of Alto St. Inez and surrounding areas wish to express our deep gratitude to the Deputy Mayor Shri Yatin Parekh for strongly backing our cause and for joining us in objecting the construction of this mega Hotel project right at the Alto St. Inez junction.
We also thank the Panaji MLA Shri Manohar Parrikar who took up this issue with the Commissioner and the Mayor of CCP at a meeting held on 8th May 2008. We understand that Mr. Parrikar too has come out openly against the construction of the Hotel Project in this area. Patricia Pinto of Goa Bachao Abhiyan intimated us that an environmental study was conducted by the Department of Mines and Geology sometime back wherein it was mentioned that this area was prone to landslides because of the nature of the soil. Given this area's fragility, Mrs. Pinto expressed her apprehensions whether this area could house a ground+ 6 Hotel project. Upon further perusal of the plans and documents, it is quite apparent that the concerned authorities have flouted various laws and norms in issuing the necessary licenses. Furthermore, we were shocked when we learnt that the license for construction issued to M/s Pentagon Developers was valid from 1st March 2006 for a period of 1 year only and the CCP has not renewed the same till date. As such, it is quite clear that the construction work that had commenced including excavation and cutting of the hill was blatantly illegal and unauthorized. We have written letters to the CCP Commissioner and the Chief Minister requesting them to look into this matter, to withdraw all the permissions granted for this said construction and further to initiate stringent actions against the Builder/ Developer and all the Officers who have approved the construction of a mega hotel project in this ecological and environmentally fragile area and at a junction point which could prove to be fatal from the pedestrian and traffic point of view. Photographs of the construction site/ area location are available at the link http://picasaweb.google.com/sandeepheble/AltoStInezHotelConstructionSitePictures Yours sincerely Sandeep Heble Representative of protesting residents of St. Inez St. Inez, Panaji-Goa
