The Betul, Naqueri & Canaguinim Citizen Action Committee has threatened to intensify its ongoing agitation if the government fails to immediately scrap the Food Park and Auxiliary services for the Food Park, besides mining at Betul-Naqueri. A delegation of the Committee on Thursday morning called on Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat at his residence and stressed on the need to scrap these projects forthwith. Kamat gave the delegation a patient hearing and assured to take up the matter with IDC Chairman and local Quepem MLA Babu Kavlekar. A memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister drew his attention to the fact that nearly 2.5 lakh sq mts of the acquired land for the Auxiliary services for the Food Park belongs to the Gawda community, which is classified as a Scheduled Tribe Community by the government of India. Lamenting that the government has acquired land for the auxiliary services for the Food Park by invoking the urgency clause, the delegation said the Gawda community is largely dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, adding "dispossessing them form their rights over the land would adversely affect their livelihood'. Condemning the government in trying to bring in the Food Park from the backdoor as an industrial estate because of the mounting public pressure, the Committee said the Food Park and the Auxiliary services for the Food Park will adversely affect the already scarce resources of the place and will further augment the problems of the influx of migrants, water, power and garbage disposal. At present, the villagers are faced with acute problems of constant power cut, low voltage, irregular water supply and the menace of garbage. The committee also told the Chief Minister that the villagers are opposed to the bauxite mining and demanded that the project should not be granted licence for further expansion. "The past four decades of unregulated mining activities have adversely affected the agriculture and increased the water, noise and air pollution, thus causing immense hardships to the villagers. The people living around the mining areas belong to the ST community, who are largely dependent on agriculture and other forest produce for their livelihood', the Committee told the Chief Minister, while demanding a stop to all mining activities.