Taleigao’s “Save our fields” movement becomes a pan Goa one

Now a battle is on in the suburb of Taleigao to protect its fields. Local residents had expressed their ire at the move by a contractor hired by the Taleigao panchayat who had filled up fields cultivated until the last Rabi season for a new panchayat ghar project. This simple protest has become a statewide movement and is not about Taleigao anymore. It’s about Goa. On Thursday, concerned Goans from all over the state converged in Taleigao to voice their support for the protest. Nathan d Souza a young farmer who is directly affected by this project said the land has been with us for so many years and they had ploughed it this year too and then they dropped the debris on the land without giving any notice. He said “We are all very angry, I am a young farmer and now because of all this, I am feeling de-motivated.  This move has affected 8 to 9 farmers and the area is around 6000 metres”. He said they could not remove the debris because it was a lot and where would they throw it. He, however, said they were motivated to fight and do whatever was necessary to ensure they got their fields back. This battle has caught the attention of people all over Goa. Aldrich Gonsalvez who works abroad and visits Goa every year said he was fed up of seeing green fields being replaced by buildings. He said “The lockdown gave me the opportunity to speak to farmers and to get involved with them. I live in Socorro and when I heard what was happening to these farmers I knew I had to be there. We had placards and there were around fifty people from all over the place. Taryn Rodrigues a nature lover came all the way from Moira with her kids to show her support. She said “This is a good fight and a fight for survival, I am not a great fan of construction, and I support agricultural land. My kids pushed me to be present here. They love the drive from Mapusa to Moira which has green fields on both sides and this is also about protecting greenery. My kids believe in protecting nature I am so proud of them having picked up the right values”. Lester D Almeida a student and a resident of Taleigao said he had to be there because it was about maintaining the beauty of the place. Cecille Rodrigues has been in the thick of it all from the beginning and said was urging the people of Taleigao to come out and fight this move. She said people from places as diverse as Benaulim, Porvorim, Santacruz, Margao, Mapusa were all present to show their support. Taleigao Farmers Club chairman, Xavier Almeida said the protest had been a silent one but a persistent one and the people of the place were scared because agriculture was being destroyed with the seepage from septic tanks. He said “It has to be made mandatory that every complex with more than 50 flats should have a sewage treatment plant. There is no check now and buildings are cropping up all over the place. The politicians seem to want more and more buildings.” Perhaps the situation was best summed up by Advocate Pundalik Raikar who is fighting the case for the farmers who said the papers presented were all bogus, compensations were not paid to anyone and they had decided to take advantage of the virus to initiate this move. One can only hope the wishes of the people are respected.