The Baina slum area has been considered as one of the biggest after Zuarinagar and politics is inevitable. The poor residents are rich only during election time when the leaders use them.
“Leaders look at us only during elections. However, since we have got the Congress stamp on our forehead from the very beginning, no Congress leader has ever attempted to displace us, but BJP is making all efforts to cut down the over 3000 plus confirmed voters of Congress,” said a Baina resident who did not wish to be named.
It’s not that the BJP hasn’t tried to get the Baina vote bank to shift to them. This could be one reason why Power Minister and Mormugao MLA Milind Naik as an Opposition MLA had moved a Private Members Bill to stall demolition of houses at Desterro and other portions under NH road alignment much after the High Court and even the Supreme Court cleared the demolition. Even then leader of opposition Manohar Parrikar had on the floor of the House said that hundreds of people would lose their houses. Sensing the BJP game plan, the then chief minister Digambar Kamat too supported the people of Baina and a resolution stopping and stalling demolitions was passed.
“Kamat first wanted the NH17B to turn directly into MPT from Ravindra Bhavan to save the Desterro demolitions while in the Opposition. The moment Parrikar became CM, he announced a road over bridge aimed at saving all the hutments at the cost of Rs 100 crore and now the same section will be built at Rs 546 crore with hutments demolished,” said State Congress General Secretary Sankalp Amonkar.
Geographically, a majority of the structures that exist or were existing on either side of the proposed four-lane road contribute over 3000 votes and any person in Mormugao constituency with political ambitions hasn’t missed the opportunity to gain control over these voters.
“Voters from Baina used to always play a vital role in every election. Former MLA Shaikh Hassan Haroon contested and won from here. It was due to his blessings that the Baina slums came about and from very few structures of local fishermen, Baina shore was converted into a slum,” former minister John Manuel Vaz said.
According to Vaz, some 30 odd years ago, when he was active in politics, he used to visit Baina beach often as there were no structures on the beach and only a few huts where fishermen used to keep their nets. In 1977 some labourers working for late Mohan Nair (MPT union leader) vacated their temporary huts and these were taken over by a few sex workers and this was the beginning of encroachments at Baina, he said.
“Slowly politicians encouraged more people to encroach on the land, which was acquired by the government saying the NH project will never become a reality and the encroachments spilled up to the Baina beach shore,” Vaz said.
Officially, the residents are illegal and only encroachers, except for some fishermen, but unofficially those affected by the Baina demolitions claim to be living there for ages and as proof produce house tax receipts, voter ID cards and ration cards.
Amongst the cards, the only thing of value is the voting card, the other documents having no meaning as the slums were formed by political god fathers. That is what every politician did, but alleges that his predecessor did it.
The BJP rubbishes these theories and says they are doing this because Congress was reluctant to do it and the development of Baina beach, which was long pending, has remained as distant dream.
“There is no question that someone is my voter or his voter. The question here is whether we want development of Baina beach or not. If the answer is yes, then holistic development cannot happen if the hutments on the Baina shore are not removed,” says Power Minister and Mormugao MLA Milind Naik.
The fate of the occupants facing demolition and the beautification of Baina will be decided by the State, but it is important to understand that in the past Baina was a preferred residential location and several industrialists, including the Salgaocars and Chowgules and others, still own bungalows here.
The unrestricted view of the great wide ocean from their verandahs and bedrooms may actually now return. But again, thanks to politics.
