TEAM HERALD
bureau@herald-goa.com
PONDA: With a demand to protect large tracts of grazing land from becoming a concrete jungle, villagers under the banner of ‘Gaunem Dhajan Samaja’ and Jan Jagruti Manch, Bandora will hold a protest march at the State Legislative Assembly on the first day of the assembly session on October 9.
According to information, villagers have been agitating to protect about 1 lakh sq mtrs of grazing land, originally belonging to Bandora comunidade, since the last three years. Villagers claim that the land according to the RP 2021 has been identified as grazing land.
“Various representations were made to all authorities concerned regarding the alleged illegal sub-division of land, but to our surprise no action has been taken so far. The land was illegally transferred to a private party and the builder has already started the work to develop the area,” informed Govind Gaude, convener of the Jan Jagruti Manch Bandora-Ponda.
On Thursday, Gaude along with other members met Ponda Deputy Collector Johnson Fernandes to inquire on the action taken on the alleged illegalities. “A couple of days back, we were informed by the North Goa collector’s office that inquires conducted through the Ponda Deputy Collector office claimed there was no work going on in the land at Farmagudi. This is totally incorrect as developer has already installed electricity poles and has constructed internal roads,” claimed Gaude.
“Since there is no action taken on the illegalities even after several complaints, we feel that government officials and politicians are also involved in this land scam,” claimed Gaude.
Ponda Deputy Collector Johnson Fernandes while responding to media queries said, “I have already initiated proceeding to check whether the land conversion has been done or not and the matter is under investigation. As of now, there is no ongoing work in that property,” he said.
