isidore domnick mendistimes panchanama st estevam tiswadi till a decade ago every december 26th saw the st stephens club at mazagaon mumbai organize a dance at the central railway institute ground in byculla it was open to families and was more popular than the christmas dance which was restricted to couples this dance was monikered the bhendekar special for the locals who were from st estevam a village in neighbouring goa the octopusshaped st estevam village spread across 82sqkm in tiswadi taluka is famed for its sevenridged long green ladyfingers bhende in konkani it is also called xhakecho zunvo the island of vegetables housing a population of 3500 the islandvillage till recently had most of its men working overseas as seamen the distance however has never diluted residents connection with their beautiful home which is why when blatant hillcutting threatened the villages heritage fort in 2006 a local movement was born it was the flagship of the statewide movement against the real estatefriendly regional plan rp 2011 and the spark that ignited the formation of the activist group goa bachao abhiyan gba while rp 2011 was finally scrapped the current rp 2021 is giving zuemkars as the islands residents are known sleepless nights it proposes a 10metrewide road in the village which has beautiful houses on both sides of its narrow road that measures no more than 4 meters why do we need wide roads in one of the most gorgeous villages of goa these will in no way serve the interests of the village or its residents says lucas ribeiro of mangueiral vaddo iver ferreira concurs the state government should listen to the villagers by standing by the draft regional plan that was prepared by us and which took care of our villages future considerations without disturbing either the settlements or the ecology firebrand environmentalist bismarque dias points to the neighbouring villages of khandola naroa and tottewada where the ecology has already been compromised by the cutting of hills and mangroves the construction of illegal roads and crz violations these villages have ambitious projects under way including a township of 881 exclusive villas water ballast coal cargo iron ore shipbuilding and hinterland tourism we are trying to save our land which has been wickedly destroyed and robbed through the rp 2021 the proposed 10m road is a barbaric step to bleed the land and dislocate the locals st estevam is already facing ecological social and cultural challenges foisted on it through environmentallydestructive projects be it on its own vaddo tolto or on its bordering villages and towns like khandola naroa tottewada says dias scrapping the environment and people unfriendly provisions of rp 2021 is now a mantra in st estevam rp 2021 is destroying our entire village from its fields to its institutions especially the church temple schools etc it is playing havoc with peoples lives the projected 10m road will bisect the church property especially in the area where the stations of the cross the lenten