Karsten Miranda
AMDAI (SANGUEM): The struggles of the Amdai farmers against their B and B (beer and brewery) enemy, is littered with ironies. Firstly, the company which has bulldozed into the village is called Vani Agro Farms but it is clearly, according to villagers, doing exactly the opposite – destroying Amdai’s farms. It is going to produce beer, which is sucking out water from Uguem River, meant for irrigation and lastly the site of the beer factory is between the river Uguem, Amdai’s lifeline and the houses and plantations of families. Literally and figuratively, this liquor factory has taken the fizz out of Amdai’s quiet, peaceful existence.
In the month of December 2015, the villagers had complained that coconut trees were being cut and the slopes excavated for road development within the said property for the setting up of a huge brewery and distillery at the site. Incidentally this coincided with the government de-classifying the coconut palm as a tree and the owner of Vani Agro Farms telling Herald with a swagger that he would no longer need permission to cut coconut trees.
While the company had claimed they had permission for the cutting of the trees, a new problem has emerged which threatens to leave the villagers and their fields devastated.
The villagers have pointed out that the company has only been granted consent to establish but the company has allegedly commenced excavation works without any further permission. They further point out that the company does not have the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environment Clearance (EC) which is mandatory for RED category projects and that the company has dumped large amount of excavated mud above steep slopes leading to their paddy fields, water bodies and spring below. “The huge amounts of excavated mud will cause large scale siltation of the fields and water bodies causing unprecedented pollution of the water and land,” said Umesh Gaonkar.
The villagers do not trust the Sanguem Municipal Council Chief Officer Pramod Dessai after the CO in reply to their RTI applications initially stated that no NOC was granted to the project. Because of this, the villagers filed a complaint with Vigilance Department, Town and Country Planning Department, Directorate of Municipal Administration, Goa State Pollution Control Board, and Ministry of Environment and Forests. A petition was submitted to the State Tribal Commissioner stating that even after filing objections to various government officers, the work is underway with no action being initiated by the government to stop the work.
The Vigilance Department had stated that their complaint is in process and notices will be issued accordingly. The Town and Country Planning Department, as well as the Directorate of Municipal Administration, wrote to the Chief Officer asking for an inquiry to be initiated. But there is no sign of that yet.
Meanwhile, deputy town planner Manguirish N Verenkar further stated that their office had not issued any technical clearance for the alleged development by the villagers of Amdai.
They also point out that most of the coconut trees in the property are set to be cut and the trees were important in holding back the water from spilling over into their fields directly. “The government is not bothered if we survive and if our fields are destroyed. The local MLA Subash Phaldesai, his family and the bureaucracy are working hand in glove with the company and turning a blind eye to all our complaints or manipulating their inspection reports and letting us suffer in the process,” said the villagers.
These are hard truths. But it’s clear on which side the government is on.
