A tiny village on the outskirts of Panaji will observe a day-long bandh on July 25 to protest the anchoring of an off-shore casino vessel next to a bird sanctuary in Mandovi river.
The residents of Ribander village near here have been protesting the anchoring of an off-shore casino vessel 'Deltin Caravela' adjacent to their place in Mandovi river and next to Dr Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary.
"We had given a deadline of 15 days to the state government to move the off-shore casino vessel. The deadline expires on July 22. We will be holding a day-long bandh at Ribander on July 25," social activist Aires Rodrigues told reporters today in the presence of Congress MLA Pandurang Madkaikar.
Rodrigues said the agitation is planned as the state government has "failed" to heed to the demands of locals.
"The agitation which starts in Ribander on July 25 would be later taken across Goa exposing the nexus between casino operators and the state government," he alleged.
Madkaikar claimed that BJP leader Manohar Parrikar, during his tenure as Leader of Opposition in the state, had criticised the casinos, but his party government is currently "sheltering" them.
