The story of the fight led by the villagers of Carmona against the powerful Rahejas does not concern only the Carmona locals but the rest of Goa as it symbolises how a village in Goa is not ready to allow its identity to change in the face of rapid urbanisation.
One of the leading voices of many a people’s movement to protect Goa’s identity, Dr Francisco Colaco compared their plight and fight to the demands of Goans for special status and how by allowing such projects to get the necessary approvals exposes the government’s hollow promise of pushing for special status.
If you talk to the Carmona locals, they concur with Dr Colaco who has supported their cause and feel that if there was special status, none of these problems would have existed and a lot more could be done to protect and preserve their village. After all, this fight for them is a fight for special status of Carmona, a riverside village between the tourist places of Varca and Cavelossim that is covered by tiny roads, greenery all over and a population that knows whose community spirit is very strong and dear to them.
Benaulim constituency, of which Carmona is a part of, has seen several of such agitations in the past few years based on perceptions that are growing by the day. The foremost among them is the perceived greed of real estate firms who wish to establish large commercial residential complexes that not every Goan can afford. The new, filthy rich owners are seen as those who care a damn for the concerns, traditions and heritage of the village they own property in.
In Carmona, senior Raheja officials claim that the locals have been misguided and stick by their belief that they have received all the information and were only waiting for the construction license from the panchayat, that they believe they are entitled to. However, a conversation with the locals reveals a serious sense of distrust not only in connection to Raheja’s claims but also the authorities including the panchayat for rolling the red carpet for them, thus forcing the villagers to come on to the streets to protest.
The Rahejas have purchased 88,000 square meters in Carmona. Social activist Serafino Cota explained that Carmona was a unique heritage forest where one would get various types of trees only available in remote parts of Goa like Pernem, Sattari and Canacona.
In 2008, around 2,000 odd trees according to Cota were felled with all the permissions from the government and how the villagers were helpless as their protests were in vain and how they resent protests and resent the fact that their jungle of natural resources will only be converted into a concrete jungle.
While the same forest department that gave permissions now is working with Rahejas for a proposed CSR project, the role of the Town and Country Planning department has come under extreme scrutiny.
While the local village committee that has been formed to articulate and chalk out the course of action on behalf of the village, they have received support from all quarters and it this very support that has led the Sarpanch to resign from her post and it looks like the sarpanch is silently joining the villagers protest against Rahejas.
Time will tell if other elected representatives will follow suit and succumb to the pressure put on them by the people of Carmona and take on the mighty Rahejas backed the government. For now, it certainly looks like the tide is in favour of Carmona villagers who are about to script the Carmona version of the David vs Goliath story.
