“The SEZ at Keri was to be a green industry and we have all the necessary permissions, from the state as well as the Centre. We even have the Panchayat’s permission and we have conceded all their demands including starting a school and giving jobs to the locals. I don’t know what the objections are,” Lulla says.

Vedesh Jalmi, the local Sarpanch and a dentist, who led the opposition to the pharma SEZ, however, says that more than “environmental pollution,” people are worried about “social pollution.”

“If one lakh people are to employed here as stated by Cipla in its project report, then there is a danger of social pollution,” seconds Dattaram Dessai from neighboring Savoiverem. That’s a strange argument against industry in a state whose revenues are largely driven by tourists around the world who flock here.

But with Nath, who has championed the SEZ policy in the face of vehement opposition in the last two years, backing the Goa CM yesterday, the company that was intending to sue the government if it moved to cancel their notification, has changed tack.

Rajya Sabha MP from Goa who accompanied Kamat to the capital, Shantaram Naik, says that Cipla had misrepresented project details regarding its employment potential, overall investment and environmental degradation and therefore, it should be scrapped and their claim of compensation cannot be entertained. Lulla wants to know what exactly has the company misrepresented and has stressed that the company has never asked for any sort of compensation.

... contd.