Tensions prevailed in North Goa’s Porvorim on Sunday as authorities partially demolished the outer boundary wall of a temple through the translocation of a 200-year-old banyan tree.
As native residents protested, police stated two individuals had been detained beneath preventive measures.
The Excessive Courtroom of Bombay at Goa final week permitted the Public Works Division (PWD) and a employed contractor to go forward with the translocation of the banyan tree. It’s being translocated because it falls inside the alignment of a six-lane elevated hall on Nationwide Freeway 66 – the work for which is ongoing.
On Sunday, when PWD officers arrived to hold out the translocation of the tree, accompanied by police personnel and an earthmover, some native residents and activists protested towards any potential injury to the temple and elimination of the idol.
The outer boundary wall of the temple was partially demolished, however the course of was halted later within the night.
“There was concern that there might be injury to the temple construction whereas pruning the tree branches throughout translocation. So, after a dialogue, it was determined to relocate the idol of the deity. The temple clergymen and devotees carried out prayers earlier than the idol might be moved. Nevertheless, some locals within the space objected to the idol being moved, as a consequence of which there was some pressure. Two individuals had been detained for obstructing the police,” an official stated.
Because the stand-off continued, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant launched a press release saying, “Dev Shri Khapreshwar temple might be reconstructed by the Goa authorities on the new website of transplanted banyan tree.”
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Devanand Prabhu, joint mamlatdar, Bardez, later instructed the media: “The work of eradicating Dev Khapreshwar’s idol has been stopped to stop a law-and-order state of affairs. We are going to proceed as per the legislation.”
In December 2024, a bunch of environmentalists had written to the Union Ministry of Highway, Transport and Highways, requesting to revamp the span of the elevated hall to save lots of the temple and the banyan tree from demolition. The environmentalists had stated the tree and Devasthan are thought of sacred and worshipped by many.
Whereas disposing of the petition filed in reference to the translocation of the tree final week, the Excessive Courtroom stated the translocation must be carried out by the contractor strictly when it comes to the methodology submitted to the Deputy Conservator of Forests. The petitioner had opposed the translocation, citing a report of the ecological advisor that “the tree will stay severely maimed for many years to return and it’s not recognized whether or not or not it’s going to return to its present state”.
Environmentalist Avertino Miranda, the convener of Goa Inexperienced Brigade, stated: “The court docket order is just pertaining to the banyan tree, however the authorities went out of their option to demolish the temple, which has created pressure within the space and damage the feelings of the individuals.”
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“As per the timeline given, the authorities had been speculated to translocate the tree between March 5 and March 10. We aren’t towards translocation per se, however going by the historical past and previous document, the 5 bushes which had been earlier translocated are virtually useless. In different circumstances within the state, too, translocation has failed,” he stated.
