What's behind fresh tensions in North Goa? A 200-year-old tree, a temple and NH-66 six-laning

Tensions flared in Porvorim, North Goa on Sunday as authorities partially demolished the outer boundary wall of a temple while relocating a 200-year-old banyan tree, police officials said.

The Public Works Department (PWD) and a hired contractor were given permission by the Bombay High Court in Goa to proceed with the banyan tree's relocation this past week. The tree is being relocated as it lies in the path of a six-lane elevated corridor on National Highway 66, which is still under construction, the official informed.

When the PWD officials, police officers, and an earthmover arrived on Sunday to relocate the tree, some local activists and citizens objected to any potential damage to the Dev Khapreshwar temple, adjacent to the tree. While speaking to the media, police said that two locals were detained under preventive measures for protesting and hindering government work.

The officials carried on the demolition of the outer boundary wall of the temple, but the process was halted later in the evening due to some technical glitches, several media houses reported.

However, authorities proceeded with relocating the idol under tight security by late Sunday night. At approximately 4 am on Monday, the idol of Lord Khapareshwar was carefully moved to the highway contractor’s office, where it is currently housed under 24-hour police security.

Several local politicians and social and environmental activists came together to prevent the temple from being demolished. Devotees and activists fiercely disagreed with the decision and spoke loudly with Khapreshwar Devesthan officials. They even accused the government of being anti-Hindu for demolishing a temple without following the proper procedure and rituals.

“There was concern that there could be damage to the temple structure while pruning the tree branches during translocation. So, after a discussion, it was decided to relocate the idol of the deity. The temple priests and devotees performed prayers before the idol could be moved. However, some locals in the area objected to the idol being moved, due to which there was some tension. Two people were detained for obstructing the police,” an official said.

Seeing the intensity of the protests and unrest among the locals, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant released a statement saying, “Dev Shri Khapreshwar temple will be reconstructed by the Goa government at the new site of transplanted banyan tree.”

Environmentalist Avertino Miranda, the convener of Goa Green Brigade, said, “The court order is only pertaining to the banyan tree, but the authorities went out of their way to demolish the temple, which has created tension in the area and hurt the sentiments of the people.”

“As per the timeline given, the authorities were supposed to translocate the tree between March 5 and March 10. We are not against translocation per se, but going by the history and past record, the five trees which were earlier translocated are almost dead. In other cases in the state, too, translocation has failed,” he said.