Chicalim parish priest & environmentalist Fr Bolmax Periera on Friday morning flagged off the "Save Mhadei Save Tiger" bike rally from Chicalim.
A large number of activists and residents from different parts of Goa were present on the occasion.
The South Goa Motorcycle rally began from Chicalim Church ground with people from Vasco, Chicalim, Bogmalo, Cansaulim, Arossim, Velsao, Majorda, Quelossim, Nagoa, Verma and Cortalim gathering at the location.
Speaking to the media, Fr Bolmax Periera said that the rally was not only to save Mhadei and save the tiger but to save the human race.
"Let no politician use this as an opportunity to save themselves. We have to blame former chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar and he is solely responsible for this situation because he was the person who signed the river nationalisation project with Goan rivers. The government is now coming up with different plans without repairing what damage has been done by them and this is not acceptable. If we don't save the Mhadei, we humans will not be saved because sand mining, tree felling and forest burning have been going on on a massive scale," said Pereira.
"We need this awareness because no one will take care of us until we save the Mhadei river and the propaganda made by the government is a lie. Our MLA, Minister Mauvin Godinho is issuing a statement that the people from the Centre will come to help, but we want to tell them that we are not the slaves of the Centre or Prime Minister Narendra Modi or the crony capitalists like Aadani and Jindals."
"These awareness programmes through bike rallies or small programmes are crucial to ensure that our struggle to save Mhadei reaches all Goans, and if we Goans don't make a noise, the government will sell us to the Centre, crony capitalists like Jindals and Adani," said Periera.
Activists Xencor Polgi, Rajen Ghate and others also spoke on the occasion.
