They haven’t yet given up hope though a decade has elapsed since the government bulldozed its way to snatch the land title of the lush green fields to make way for a controversial truck terminus.Come rains, and these farmers take to the fields to till the land of their ancestors year after year unmindful of the fact that the ownership title now rests with the government after the forcible acquisition. This year isn’t anything different for this group of farmers as they are back with the ploughing operations on the government acquired with the skies finally opening up after a dry spell.
And, they hope against hope that the government will one day see reason and return their fields not only to help them eke a living, but maintain a clean and green environment amidst a stinking wholesale fish market on one side and the concretizing of the once-lush green fields with mega project such as the collectorate building, district hospital (under construction), KTC bus stand, SGPDA market on the other.
Sixty-year old Martin Araujo was busy ploughing his field in anticipating of rains to facilitate paddy cultivation. He is emotionally attached to his paddy field in question, having helped his family to plough and cultivate the field over the decades. “For the last sixty years, I had been closely associated with this field of my ancestors. We did not stop cultivate the field after the government acquired the entire land for a song for the truck terminus. We want our land back,” he said.
Another farmer Agnelo D’Costa echoed similar sentiments. “The government took away our fields by filing false reports that they are barren. But, we will not give up the land of our ancestors. Generations have been cultivating these fields and we continue the tradition till date. The government can even conduct a survey to ascertain whether the farmers cultivate the fields or not.”
Both Martin and Agnelo have pinned their hopes on Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for the return of their fields. “It’s a decade now since the government had forcibly acquired our fields. They had proposed the truck terminus on the agricultural land when there’s no industry or factory around. We have learnt that Parrikar is open on the question of returning back the acquired fields for cultivation. We hope, the Chief Minister would also listen to our prayers,” Agnelo added.
Interestingly, though the fields admeasuring over a lakh sq mts was acquired for the truck terminus, the project was subsequently scrapped following a sustained agitation by the farmers and citizens alike. A year ago, beleaguered farmers had joined hands once again to protect the agricultural fields after reports did the rounds that the government was contemplating to shift the existing KTC bus stand on the acquired land.
