Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Oct 5: In a powerful display of cultural resistance, the villagers of Chimbel gathered on Sunday at Kadamba Plateau near Dev Baigainkaar, beside the bypass highway, to perform the traditional ‘Garane’ prayer. This age-old ritual was a heartfelt protest against the Goa government’s ambitious Unity Mall and Prashasan Stambh (Administrative Building) projects, reflecting the community’s deep concern for their land and heritage.

The ceremony, held just a day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah virtually inaugurated the foundation stone for these developments, was intended to seek divine protection over the village’s sacred sites and ancestral lands. The villagers’ symbolic act underscores the tension between rapid urban development and preserving local traditions and identity.

The Unity Mall, proposed by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC), aims to occupy roughly 12,000 square meters of land in Chimbel with an investment of Rs 132 crore under the Central government’s One District One Product (ODOP) initiative. Designed as a cultural hub, the mall will feature outdoor exhibition spaces, a children’s play area, an amphitheater, and conference halls, showcasing and selling products from every Indian state.

In tandem, the state government plans to erect the Prashasan Stambh, poised to be Goa’s tallest administrative building at 15 stories and 75 meters high. The structure will rise on approximately 25,000 square meters of land recently transferred from the IT Department to the General Administration Department, with costs estimated to exceed Rs 300 crore.

As these development plans move forward, the villagers’ traditional Garane prayer serves as a poignant reminder of the enduring connection between community, culture, and land in the face of modernization.