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MIRABAG GIFTED TO ADANI!
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MIRABAG GIFTED TO ADANI!

Mar 14- Mar 20, 2026, Protest March 13, 2026 , by

The state government proposal to build a dam across the Zuari river in Mirabag village of Sanvordem has made the locals very angry. It has been pointed out that the saline water of the Zuari cannot be used for drinking or agriculture purpose. Locals insists that the dam is being proposed for the benefit of the coal washing projects of the Adani and the industrial units in the Verna Industrial Estate.

THE chief minister, Pramod Sawant, screamed “Arrest them!” Referring to the four protestors against the Mirabag bhandara/dam project at Sanvordem in the assembly gallery on Friday, March 9, 2026 — on the opening day of the assembly. They were registering their protest against the bhandara or massive dam proposed to be built at the cost of Rs300 crore, the dam seeks to divert Zuari river waters for the benefit of industrial units including Zuari Fertilizers and the coal-handling infrastructure being created for the Adani group. The Mirabag dam along with the Assolda jetty are all part of the proposed infrastructure for the enhanced coal loading and the renewed transport of ore from the resumption of mining in Goa.
Historically, the Zuari river is the main channel for the transport of iron ore from the mines to the Vasco harbor. The old mining industry chose to transfer mined ore on barges through the channels of the Zuari and Mandovi rivers as river transport is cheaper than road transport. The rivers have been used to transport ore to the port city Vasco da Gama’s Mormugoa harbor.
Similarly now the imported coal is from the Adani mines in Australia is proposed to be moved by barges to Curchorem, from where they may be transported by rail from Sarvodem railway terminal of the South Eastern Railways. While the focus has been on the casinos and the Mandovi river, not enough attention has been given to the massive pollution of the Zuari river.
It may be remembered that the Zuari basin is among one of the most highly industrialized parts of the state. The Zuari river valley basin which covers Curchorem, Sanvordem and Vasco houses the Zuari Fertilizer Plant chemical units, mining and ore handling units and the coal handling infrastructure. Large industries require water not for drinking but for cooling systems processing coal washing and other processes in the pharma industry.
The Verna Industrial Estate which has a preponderance of multinational pharma units which need additional water urgently. Under the pretext of benefiting farmers the Pramod Sawant government has tried to impose the Mirabag dam on the people of Sarvodem. The government alibi is that the dam is needed to retain water in the Zuari basin, the same as the Zuari industrial zone. The government claim is that the dam would facilitate all irrigation during the summer months and improve water availability for agriculture.
However, the bitter ground reality is that there is no agriculture which has not been destroyed by mining and the transportation of ore through roads built cutting across paddy fields. The situation has now been aggravated by the massive transport of coal imported by the Adanis from Australia.
The locals are agitating as they fear it is another attempt by the government to boost industry and real estate projects of the Bhutanis and others in Sancoale and Cortalim. The gram panchayats have rejected the proposed bhandara dam project but despite this, work on soil testing and massive tree cutting has already begun. This of course triggered the assembly protest. Since Irrigation Minister Subhash and the chief minister were not responding the protesters from Mirabag decided to stage a silent protest from the gallery of the assembly on the opening day of the budget session.
The protestors denied that they were terrorists and insisted they were BJP workers who were agitated about the Zuari river waters being diverted for the benefit of the mining lobby and the Adanis, they fear an industrial takeover of the river with the dam and this would affect the villagers adversely.


IT MAY be recalled that in recent years several water projects originally intended for irrigation, eventually were used for supplying water to industrial projects, tourism projects and urban projects. Goan Observer had highlighted the fact that almost 5 lakh sq mts of land had been diverted under Section 39A by the Zuari Industries from industrial to settlement zones. The fertilizer company now finds it more profitable to invest in real estate in Goa. Sancoale in the Murmugoa taluka accounts for the largest area diverted under the disputed 39A of the TCP Act.
Apart from the threat to land and ecology the local villagers fear submergence of agricultural land and loss of traditional fishing areas. The dam will make it easier to meet the industrial and commercial water supply needs of industry, mining and real estate companies in the Zuari river basin. The villagers and residents of Mirabag complain that they were not consulted. No environment impact assessment was done, they asked why rivers should be dammed for development of industry and real estate?
There is a pattern to the so called development by the Pramod Sawant government. Infrastructure is coming up in the rural areas not for the benefit of locals as much for the big builders from outside the state. Rivers and water bodies are under attack as dramatized by the attempts to take over the Toyyar lake at Chimbel and Bollwall lake in Santa Cruz. Both the projects were subsequently cancelled following huge protests.
Perhaps what is even more shocking is that the floor area ratio of buildings has been changed from 80% of the plot area to 300% in village areas for large parcels of land. This is adding to the pressure on villages which are already struggling with inadequate infrastructure for water and power. Indeed, most of the new housing projects including Mathias Ocean Park at Dona Paula do not have PWD water connections and are entirely dependent on water tankers and tube wells. The mass digging of tube wells across Goa including the Kadamba Plateau the Zuari river basin has adversely affected the water table and led to the drying up of springs and wells (documented in the Goan Observer).

THE RIVERS BELONG TO PEOPLE
IRRIGATION Minister Subhash Shirodkar claims that the state government does not require permission to tap rivers for drinking water purposes. However, huge dams across any river including the proposed bhandara at Mirabag, may not be built without permission from environmental agencies. Neither the River Navigation department nor the State Pollution Control Board have been taken into confidence over the river Zuari bhandara project.
The four residents of Mirabag who were protesting in the assembly gallery were taken into police custody by the Porvorim police station. This instantly brought about huge protests at the Lohia maidan in Margao down south Goa and the protestors got bail, they were felicitated by all Goa activist groups and Opposition parties, including Goa Forward (at the Lohia maidan).
Now the Speaker of the Goa assembly and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant are claiming that it was Vijai Sardessai, the Goa Forward chief, who planned and facilitated the protest in the assembly. On the one hand the Goa assembly has demanded an unqualified apology from Vijau Sardessai for abetting the protest in the assembly. On the other hand the Speaker who is the MLA from Sanvordem constituency, which includes Mirabag, is sympathetic to the protestors.
The fact of the matter is that builders and big industry do not discriminate between BJP constituencies and Opposition constituencies. So much so various BJP MLAs themselves have come under attack from the locals. In a sensitive election year they do not want to antagonize their voters. Nilesh Cabarel, former BJP PWD minister, successfully fought against coal loading jetty at Assolda being built by the Adanis. Cabral who is part of the core committee of the BJP has also expressed support for the residents of Mirabag for objecting to the Zuari river bhandara. The protestors meanwhile have shifted their headquarters to Azad maidan in capital city Panjim.

ASSAULT ON WATER RESOURCES
CLEARLY, there is an assault on all river bodies across the state. The rivers and lakes are sought to be harnessed to meet the drinking water requirements of the huge real estate projects coming up across Goa. Having saturated the coastal areas the builders are moving inland even to areas like the Mayem lake and Kalapur village in Bicholim, not to mention the already stressed out Saligao and Siolim villages.
The existing Anjune and Salaulim dams are not able to meet the water requirements of the bombardment of new projects. The government recently gave notice for bringing a huge area of land under the Tillari irrigation project which is actually based across the border in Maharashtra. This has again been done for the benefit of the mining and real estate lobby as the expansion of the Tillari project and will lead to the submergence of large areas of land in Goa. It all started with a Selaulim project which displaced thousands of Goans including the Dhonds of “Tarun Bharat” Group who were forced to shift to Belgaum.

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