This sleepy village with a predominant base of scheduled tribes’ population is literally battling not just migrants, but builders lobby, scrap yards, garbage and sanitation, Konkan Railway et al. As residents are slowly coming to terms with the shocking blast that rocked the village yesterday, Sao Jose de Areal is indeed besieged by a host of problems, including huge presence of migrants and scrap yards. The village panchayat has been involved in a running battle with real estate sharks who are eyeing vast tracts of vacant land for mega housing projects. Herald takes a close look at the host of problems and issues facing the village and its people
GUILHERME ALMEIDA
MARGAO: Located on the outskirts of the commercial capital, Sao Jose de Area has been a favourite destination for many a migrant to settle down. A survey conducted by the village panchayat has brought out a startling revelation that all is not well in the village.
Migrants and tenants
A glance at the survey report showed that around 490 houses and around 1,888 rooms have been given on rent to tenants/migrants. The survey has put the number of people living in rented houses to 4,484 – around one third of the village population. This has thrown up the ticklish problems of sanitation and garbage disposal, with the survey showing absolutely no provision made for garbage disposal.
Surprisingly, the survey revealed that almost 70-80 per cent of the people staying in the rented premises were never verified by the police. Sarpanch Julio Monteiro said the panchayat has mooted a proposal to collect one month’s rent from the rented premises as per the Panchayati Raj Act. “There’s already a gram sabha resolution to collect one month’s rent from the rented premises. Since the survey report is already in place, we will soon move to collect the rent from the land lords”, he added.
Scrap yards
Sao Jose de Areal is known as the scrap yard “adda” of Salcete with the village home to as many as 52 scrap yards. Sustained movement by the local populace to get the scrap yards shut down or located have failed to bear fruit till date. Repeated pleas made by the village panchayat to the Goa State Pollution Control Board and the district administration to remove the scrap yards have come a cropper till date.
Commenting on the scrap yards, the sarpanch said a fresh survey will be conducted of all the scrap yards before the report is submitted to the district collector and the district administration for action. “We will tell the Chief Minister that the authorities have turned a blind eye to the illegal scrap yards”, he added.
Housing colonies
The Sao Jose de Areal village panchayat is involved in a running battle with the builders’ lobby. Armed with a gram sabha resolution, the panchayat has refused to grant construction licenses to multi dwelling units in the village. The panchayat has so far rejected half a dozen applications for construction licenses, with the builders dragging the body to the court.
Says Sarpanch Julio: The villagers have made it clear through the gram sabha they are opposed to multi-dwelling units in the village. The village lacks amenities such as garbage disposal and has inadequate power and water infrastructure to cater to the new housing colonies. Moreover, he said the influx of migrants is threatening the existence of original inhabitants, who, very soon will be strangers in their own land.
Konkan Railway
Konkan Railway Corporation’s proposal for acquisition of land admeasuring over one lakh sq mts in the village has come in for strong opposition from villagers. The land acquisition proposal has been rejected twice by the villagers in the last one year. The reason is simple: The villagers are not only opposed to the land acquisition, but are wary of the KRC’s second railway station proposed on the grounds that the station will be gateway for further influx of migrants in the village. Despite rejection of the proposal, the KRC has again knocked the doors of the panchayat seeking cooperation from the villagers. Says Social activist, Peter Viegas: “We are opposed to the land acquisition. Even the Chief Minister has supported our stand. The villagers will oppose the land acquisition tooth and nail”.
Garbage and sanitation
Like many a village panchayat in Salcete, Sao Jose de Areal is facing the problem of sanitation and garbage disposal. It’s not uncommon to find complaints of sewage and waste disposal made to the village panchayat. The panchayat survey showed that some of the rented houses had no provision for toilets, while many of the rented premises were found using open toilets. As many as 168 instances of stagnant water were found across the village, while the rented premises had absolutely no provision for garbage disposal.
Sarpanch speaks:
A delegation of the panchayat will soon call on Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar seeking his attention to the problems facing Sao Jose de Areal. “We find a situation where in majority of the private land is owned by parties from outside the village. They sell their land to outsiders without the knowledge of the panchayat. We come to know only when the body is in receipt of an application for construction license. We want the government to reserve the land for public utility purposes. Otherwise, a stage may come wherein locals will be strangers in their own land.
