Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, giving it the power to buy land directly from owners for public purposes through a sale deed, may show itself as forward looking. But it’s a cruel joke on the farmers of Mopa whose lands were acquired at pathetic throw away rates, without any real process of consultation. The Land Procurement policy has been introduced primarily because the government is under pressure from the bidders of the Mopa airport, to give evidence that all road blocks have been cleared for acquiring more land for approach roads and expressways connecting to the Mopa airport.
However, the original promise made by the state by the then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar when the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 was introduced, that compensation paid to Mopa farmers would be re-looked at, remains unfulfilled. If the Land Procurement policy is an honest policy, it should be effective retrospectively, to cover all Mopa farmers who have lost land.
Manohar Parrikar wasted no time in taking possession of land acquired to push the Mopa project through in a tearing hurry, when it was not even on its list of priorities (or cleverly not included in the manifesto so as not to antagonise South Goa voters). On April 9, 2019, exactly a year after he took over as CM, his government took possession of over 22 lakh sqm of land for the Mopa airport in Pernem taluka . The land was acquired from the villages of Chandel, Casarvarnem and Varkhand. With this, the government had taken possession of about 65% of the land required for the construction of the proposed Mopa airport.
These land losers of these remote villages, of fertile land which includes forests and rivulets, were paid a pitiable Rs 54.79 per square meter as compensation. As opposed to this, 381 acres of land will be given to the airport developer with a super FAR of 2.5, which amounts 38,58,315 square meters of build-able area. The 2.5 FAR land of 381 acres, at Rs 8000 per square meter,(the prevailing rates) amounts to a valuation of Rs 3083 crore. This is being gifted to the airport developer while the government pretends that it is incurring no cost for the Mopa airport.
So now do you see the difference between what markets rates are and what the traditional land users who are losing land and livelihoods, were paid. Therefore can any new land procurement policy leave the Mopa farmers out, just because the Land acquisition has been completed?
At the same time, the current Chief Minister and relatives of the Dabolim MLA Mauvin Godinho must come clean on whether they or any of their family members have bought land in and around the Mopa airport area, on which they have or will make a killing as land rates have gone up. We need a clarification on this from both of them.
As recently as 2016 the government said “that the persons whose lands have been acquired for construction of the new airport at Mopa “are pioneering contributors in the developmental process”, and Rs 50 crores was earmarked in the budget for their additional compensation. Where is this money now and when will it be paid?
Farmers of Mopa need our support. We must never let this government formulate policies of land acquisition and call it by any other name, till the principle of natural justice applies and land losers of Mopa are paid rates that are four times the prevailing market rates.
