Will this finally be the season of seasons that for those in constant battle with the State to protect the resources and the land of Goa? The Town and Country Planning Department has opened up a proverbial Pandora’s box, of sorts, by stalling the controversial Raheja housing project in Carmona, marking the first battle victory of the people of Carmona, who have fought against the real estate giant for over six years.
The only caveat in this unilateral decision of the TCP will be a reaction from industry, that moves like this without even giving a hearing to the project proponent, will be detrimental to the expansion of projects within the state.
But the biggest argument in favour of decisions of this nature is that a sustained people’s movement is based on facts and if there is evidence on the ground the project is either prima facie illegal, or built on land which has been converted illegally and not according to the land use envisaged, or in what clearly appears to be the case, if a rule has been changed to suit one particular project, then you cannot block the people for long.
There will be an in-depth look at the Rahejas project in Carmona in some other space, but the unexpected decision of the TCP Minister to order a stop work of the project can give a fillip to all people’s movements and for the first time, the panchayat, the TCP department and the people are on the same page. Practically speaking, the stop work order itself will have to pass the test of due process to be ultimately valid, if the project proponents move court or go in appeal with the government. However, that isn’t the subject of this present argument. The significance of the decision is that it will also open up, the manner in which laws were changed by the earlier Congress government to suit one project proponent.
Therefore the limited subject of whether due process was followed in issuing the stop work order of the Raheja project, will now be hopefully seen through the lens of how this project managed to proceed, even allegedly inspiring a change in the TCP Act to allow a width of less than 8 meters for roads leading up to the project, for up to the length 75 meters or less of that project access road which connects to the main road. The Rahejas, those in the know of the project and even top sources in the government affirm, were the first beneficiary of that change. This issue has not been completely settled and needs to get done.
The broader context in which the Raheja housing project has to be seen, and now has the opportunity of being seen, is whether the purported promises of stake holder engagement, which are touted for all projects, were indeed being followed.
Our attitude to big projects, especially residential ones in ecologically fragile villages has to weigh heavily on whether the spirit of the law and a level playing field of fair play, for the locals, is maintained, even if the letter of the law justifies it.
This is necessary because the political executive across party lines has shown a very consistent propensity to ensure, that along with the land, the social “environment” in a project area is free of encumbrances. And these encumbrances should be read as people’s protests. What happens on the ground is that a fight against a perceived anti people project does not limit itself against the “outsider” project proponent. It invariably transcends to a fight against the government or even the local body which at points of time is seen as bending towards the big ticket builder and not to the people.
Nowhere is this more obvious than the vexed Tiracol project where after half a decade of protests and court cases, from the High Court to the NGT the Supreme Court, all it took was a hardworking local advocate to probe and zero in on the core issue. Did the Khalaps, the so-called owners of the land, sold to Leading Hotels, the project company, actually own the land? And when that was affirmed, the foundation of the project itself collapsed. If Leading Hotels, could take the project to this state, it is only because of the State acting as its partner and not as a neutral ombudsman, whose loyalty should first be to the people who they are elected to serve.
The villagers of Carmona and Tiracol, encompassing a sweep of the length of Goa’s geographical footprint, therefore stand as vanguards of the people’s movement of Goa of this decade and will surely make their predecessors who have participated in historic people’s agitations, very proud.
