Residents of Ser aulim have unanimously op posed the inclusion of their village in the Central govern ment’s NAKSHA land survey, rejecting the exercise in its present form and question ing why a predominantly ru ral village has been brought under a survey conceived for urban habitations. The opposition was voiced at a special meeting con vened by the Seraulim vil lage panchayat, which was attended by officials from the Directorate of Land Survey and Settlement. Vil lagers told the officials that the rationale for including Seraulim in a selective, ur ban-oriented survey had not been explained to the village. Residents pointed out that Seraulim has always been classified as a rural village and said any land record updation exercise should be conducted uniformly across the State through a pan-Goa survey, rather than selective ly targeting villages on the periphery of municipal are as. Officials responded that the inclusion of Seraulim in the NAKSHA survey was an administrative decision tak en by the government. The explanation, howev er, failed to satisfy villagers, who repeatedly questioned the criteria used for inclu sion. Residents asked why Seraulim and other villages bordering Margao were in cluded, while several coastal and interior villages were ex cluded. Officials said villages adjoining municipal areas had been included based on an administrative decision of the Goa government, add ing that they would consult higher authorities to provide further clarification. Villagers also expressed concern that including Ser aulim in an urban-focused survey could eventually lead to changes in land classifica tion and increased urbani sation pressure. They said they do not pay land tax ap plicable to urban areas and want to retain their ances tral land and rural identity. Social activists present at the meeting said villag ers share a deep bond with their land and warned that similar surveys and develop ment-linked exercises else where in the State had result ed in tribal and traditional land being taken over. Former Seraulim panch Kevin D’Sou za questioned the inclusion of a rural village in what is essentially an urban survey, stating that if the exercise is a pilot project, Seraulim should be excluded and other villag es included instead. Responding to the con cerns, officials explained that the NAKSHA survey is a pilot project being carried out in around 150 urban local body areas across the country, in cluding Panjim, Margao and Cuncolim. They said the ob jective of the exercise is to create updated three-dimen sional geospatial records, identify constructions, note changes in land use and help update land records through a transparent process. Officials added that the last land survey was conducted in the 1970s and does not reflect subsequent develop ment. They said the present exercise would help prevent land grabbing, with survey findings kept open for pub lic objections and adequate opportunities provided for villagers to raise grievances. They further stated that an inquiry officer from the Land Survey department would be appointed and a mechanism for appeals against survey orders would be put in place, with urban property cards to be issued to landowners af ter completion of the survey. Despite the assurances, vil lagers reiterated that they are not ready to accept the sur vey in its current form. The panchayat has been asked to compile the minutes of the meeting and forward them to the government for informa tion and further action.
VILLAGERS OF SERAULIM OPPOSE INCLUSION IN NAKSHA LAND SURVEY
