TEAM HERALD
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MARGAO: The government has finally cleared the decks for acquisition of the controversial land admeasuring 8,825 sq. mts opposite the Cuncolim bus stand, with the Revenue department giving its nod to the Land Acquisition officer to hand over possession of land to the acquiring department.
The fate of the land acquisition proceedings, which was initiated by Cuncolim Municipal Council to set up an Administrative building, had hung in balance after Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar had ordered a thorough study before going ahead with the land acquisition.
Sources in the Land Acquisition department informed that the office has received a communiqué stating that the land after acquisition should be handed over to the acquiring department, the Cuncolim Municipal Council. The Revenue department’s go ahead to give possession of the land in question to the Cuncolim Municipal Council came after the land acquisition office sought to know the government’s stand and guidance on the acquisition.
The land acquisition in question has been a bone of contention between Vishnu Dessai and the Cuncolim Municipal Council over the years. Desai had even challenged the land acquisition in the High Court and the Supreme Court before going on a hunger strike to stop the authorities from going ahead with the proceedings.
Incidentally, it was exactly a decade ago in 2003 that the then BJP-backed Cuncolim Municipal body had initiated the move to acquire the land in question, only to be scuttled by then Congress MLA Joaquim Alemao, who later gave his green signal to acquire the land following a resolution moved by the Cuncolim Civic body.
The issue came to the fore last year, following a change in guard when Vishnu Dessai petitioned the Chief Minister, Manohar Parrikar to save his land. In fact, Parrikar had personally inspected the land in question to get first hand information on the status of the land during his visit to Cuncolim last year.
