Team Herald
MAPUSA: The Porvorim Block Congress has expressed concern over the water logging in the fields at Socorro due to the illegal construction of roads using red mud and cement.
At a press briefing at the North Goa District Congress office, Mapusa on Thursday, the President of Porvorim Block Congress Committee, Adv Shankar Phadte pointed out that the fields of Socorro are submerged for the last 20 days.
“The water is not receding and it has destroyed the crops. Around 2 lakh sq mts of land is submerged affecting around 100-odd farmers of Carrem and Vaddem wards in Socorro. There was no need to construct a 5-metre wide road where luxury cars can be driven in the fields and neither other network of roads. If it was for tractors and machinery for fields, 2.5 metre roads in the fields were sufficient. The road does not have permission from the panchayat, Comundidade of Serula, Town and Country Planning Department, Zonal Agricultural Office or Bio-Diversity Board. The road was constructed with funds from the WRD,” said Phadte.
The Block condemned the falsity of the Porvorim MLA and demands that if any NOC or permission was taken he may disclose the same and stop fooling the public.
The Porvorim Congress has filed a police complaint under the Anti-Corruption Act against the MLA stating that he has misused his office as the Revenue Minister and mobilised government machinery and public funds to the tune of over Rs 1.5 crore to construct a road through the fields of Socorro to benefit India batsman K L Rahul. In doing so he committed breach of trust as revenue minister since he did not obtain the NOC of the Comundidade nor did he acquire the land from the Comundidade and neither did he compensate the tenants in anyway.
The Porvorim Congress has demanded that the farmers be compensated immediately through the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund and the Collector, Mamlatdar along with the Town Country Planning Department and the Zonal Agricultural Office conduct a survey and panchanama of the area. The party also demanded that the Chief Minister should investigate into this matter.
The senior farmers of Socorro, Francisco Sequeira and Gulali Kashalkar also spoke and explained the loss caused to them which they said was unprecedented. They were not taken in confidence when the roads were built and not offered any compensation for their land either. They said they were kept in the dark and misled in the entire construction of the roads carried out.
The press conference was also attended by the Secretary of Porvorim Block Congress, Nilesh Chari; General Secretary of Porvorim Block Congress, Wilbur Ticlo and Secretary of Porvorim Youth Congress, Ritesh Shenai.
