The half a decade battle between the villagers of Carmona and the Rahejas has reached an absolute flashpoint. On September 13, a historic gram sabha meeting will decide if the mega project which they claim will destroy the very sanctity of their village should be allowed in their vicinity or not.
The Panchayat of Carmona has already given its permission amidst massive protests by locals who feel that they as stakeholders have never been taken into confidence. This sadly is not the story of Carmona alone but seems to have become template for “development” under various governments of Goa. While people who protest are branded as anti-development and naysayers of progress, vital questions raised by them have been drowned in the noise of the government shouting down protestors. The people of Goa are not rabble rousers. They have and will ask the most fundamental questions. Every mega project comes with its own set of pressures. These are pressures on land, power and most importantly ground water. Above all, the identity of the village, the sanctity of its skyline and constructions and the charm it always had, get threatened by projects not meant for locals but the rich from outside.
The concerns of villagers are genuine and need to be addressed and not ignored, as we have reported. How the Electricity Department could give a NOC for the Raheja project when the village infrastructure could not accommodate it? How did the panchayat give permission without a full-fledged discussion in the gram sabha? Why shouldn’t the genuine apprehension that Rahejas would build 550 apartments and then try to buy land in the neighbouring areas, be brought to the discussion table? Why should the basic issue that one of the pre-conditions under law was the demarcation of a garbage management system in the village. be overlooked?
The tragedy with all our planning is that when there is conflict between the builder and stakeholder, the builder gets access to the government to present his point of view much more than the local who is the son of the soil. If this is indeed a battle, let it be an equal battle. Why should the playing field not be a level one?
The big issue here is that inordinately long time that government takes to settle these issues. Projects get delayed not just because of people’s protests. They get delayed because the government plays the waiting game to tire people out because the decision to allow a mega project is taken at the highest levels of government. While the Rahejas have indeed come forward to carry out community development and give back to he people of Carmona, the fundamentals are not being addressed. The absolute pressure on local resources, the lack of infrastructure and the change of identities in Goan villages are issues which go beyond acts and permissions. We have voted this government to power. Now the time has come to decide how we vote future governments to power. We as people need to decide for ourselves the kind of government we elect so that the relationship between people and government is that of equals and not a battle between an oppressor and the oppressed.
