CANACONA
Giving its in-principle approval to Loliem as the site for the Film City, the Entertainment Society of Goa (ESG) has accepted the proposal from Loliem Comunidade and has sought its consent for a 99-year lease of 250 acres of land in Loliem village.
Loliem Comunidade has now convened an extra-ordinary general body meeting of the Components on February 4 at 10 am at Shri Keshav Devalaya, Loliem, to give its approval on development of infrastructure for a Film and Entertainment Industry, by the ESG on lease basis for 99 years in the property belonging to the Comunidade of Loliem-Polem measuring an area of 10 lakh sq mtrs, states a notice in the Official Gazette.
According to Loliem Comunidade President Vishwajeet Warik, Loliem Comunidade in response to ESG seeking applications for a Film City, had sent its proposal/application in October 2023.
“Loliem has got an in-principle nod to house the Film City in the village. This proposal/application stands approved and accordingly, the ESG has called for a ‘consent’ to give them the required 250 acres of land on a 99-year lease agreement,” said Warik.
“We have, therefore, called for an extraordinary general body meeting of the components of Loliem Comunidade on February 4, to take a call on the ESG’s request. We are most likely to take a favourable decision in this meeting for the betterment and development of the village,” Warik said.
It may be recalled that following the Loliem Comunidade’s proposal submitted to the ESG’s advertisement seeking land to house the Film City in Loliem, a controversy of sorts erupted in the village as people questioned the Comunidade’s decision to earmark 10 lakh square metres of land at Bhagawati Plateau, the same site which had been shortlisted for the IIT-Goa campus and later rejected by people.
At the last Gam Sabha, the villagers passed another unanimous resolution not to allow development of any kind or nature on the Bhagwati plateau except for traditional development and use.
Many people have seen the ‘Film City’ as a sinister plan for a backdoor entry to destroy the only piece of highly eco-sensitive land left in the village, which needs to be kept for future generations.
While the Film City controversy had even led to the resignation of a village sarpanch, many of the panch members who had vehemently opposed and even passed a unanimous resolution in the past term against concretisation of eco-sensitive Bhagwati plateau were now seen leaning towards the Film City project.
