Panaji: In their fight against casinos on the Mandovi River, Panjim residents on Tuesday decided to start a signature campaign before presenting their case to the chief minister, Pramod Sawant. The first meeting under the banner ‘Ponjekars against casinos’ saw a healthy turnout of citizens.Human rights activist Sabina Martins said that by having a signature campaign, they want to create awareness against the casinos and that they should be moved out of the Mandovi River at the earliest. Their immediate demand, however, was for Martins to stop govt from going ahead with its plan to allow a casino operator to replace its old and smaller vessel with a much bigger one.“We don’t want a 2000-seat capacity boat. It will further aggravate the problems that the citizens of Panaji already face,” said Martins. Similar thoughts were also expressed by other speakers, pointing out that the future and sustainability of the state capital are at stake. They said the city’s civic issues have been exacerbated by the presence of casinos and linked trades that are mushrooming in the city.A former councillor, Patricia Pinto, one of the main speakers, said in Jan 2025, the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) was to receive 850 kg of waste from casinos, but actually 39,890 kg of waste landed at its door for handling. “Who are they trying to fool?” she asked. The speakers also raised the question: “If the CCP does not have jurisdiction over casinos, why does it accept waste from casinos?”Advocate Albertina Almeida said the BJP govt in 2013 took a policy decision to relocate offshore casinos but continued to renew their license on the pretext that it had not found an alternative site.
