Macasana, a victim of step-motherly treatment from successive govts

There’s been a trail of promises made to the people of Macasana by the powers that be but they have only flattered to deceive. Located near Curtorim, the village, which is now part of Curtorim constituency, has several issues that need immediate attention but sadly, there appears to be no follow-up action on the ground, leaving the locals in limbo JULIO D’SILVA reports

Published on:

01 Oct 2019, 11:52 pm

Dwarfed as it is by bigger panchayats in the constituency, Macasana maintains the quaint, sleepy look of a Goan village of bygone days where life moves at a relaxed pace amidst modernity.

Based in Salcete, it was earlier part of Curtorim constituency but is now attached to the Cuncolim constituency.

The village adjoins Curtorim, which is known as the rice granary of Salcete. Macasana has large khazans along its border the River Zuari. In fact, in earlier times it was called ‘Maha khazan’ meaning big khazan and that is how it got the name Macasana.

The village admeasuring 500 hectares as per the 2011 census has a population of 1,972 of which 880 are males and 1,092 females and the lower male population is because most of them are working abroad or have migrated to the West.

While it has some landlords who live on the produce of their land, Macasana does not have many mundkars as most of them have purchased their mundkarial properties and constructed their own double-storey bungalows and the village economy is largely dependent upon remittances from overseas.

87-year-old Onofre Fernandes, from Maclem wado, is one of the few landlords who live on the produce of his land. Having worked overseas earlier, he has a fascinating collection of shells and his house is like a museum where many things that were used in the bygone days can be found meticulously maintained.

Speaking about why agriculture is declining in the village, he attributed it to two factors, namely the high cost of labour and the failure to maintain the bandhs, which used to prevent the saline river water from entering the fields.

“The labour cost is become so high that it is not economical to pursue agriculture and I can manage because I still have my earlier labourers working for me who charge lesser amounts than the prevailing market rate,” he said.

Macasana Sarpanch Agnelo Costa agreed that the embankments have not been repaired and hence the fields are rendered uncultivable. He said the panchayat has been raising this matter with successive MLAs but with no result and that it’s probably neglected because it’s the smallest village in the constituency.

Village Woes

* At present, the village has three major problems affecting the residents

* One problem is that there is no playground in the village for the youngsters to play as the one developed has been abandoned and is overrun with wild grass. Sarpanch Agnelo Costa disclosed that Cuncolim MLA Clafasio Dias, who recently switched allegiance to the BJP has promised to do the ground which is estimated to cost Rs 1,30,92,433

* While another is that of connectivity as most mobiles are out of coverage areas in the village and a private telecom company is reportedly dragging its feet in erecting the tower in a private property, which has been approved not only by the panchayat but even by the gram sabha

* At practically every gram sabha, the issue of street lights is discussed with the villagers expressing their ire over the fact that complaints are not attended to and there are nights when the streets remain in the dark, posing a security and safety threat to all

Famous for: ‘Sitto’ rice and ‘mandrio’ mats

There was a time when people from different parts of Goa used to come to the village of Macasana to purchase the special water resistant rice cultivated in the khazans called ‘Sitto’. The village was also famous for the mats prepared which were called ‘mandrio’ and this was purchased by people from all over the State as well.

However, presently neither is Sitto harvested as the people cultivating fields has declined drastically nor are the mandrios prepared as the present generation either does not know the procedure or find it too tedious to prepare. Octogenarian Onofre Fernandes, who is into agriculture, recalled with sadness, the era of generations gone by, where these famous mats were made from the special reed that grows in the village called ‘lovo’.