SURAJ NANDREKAR
suraj@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: On January 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the new Crop Insurance Scheme for farmers, saying it will bring about a major transformation in their lives as it expands the definition of disaster and addresses whatever was lacking in the existing programmes.
Unfortunately, the ground reality is that the government in Goa, of his own party, is bent on wiping out the farming community in the State.
In a fresh blow to the aggrieved farmer Amarnath Naik, of Virnoda village in Pernem taluka, whose 8600 square metres of land were taken away by the State for the approach road for the Chief Minister’s pet project – the Electronic City, the Forest Department has given a below par valuation of the 442 trees which were felled in the property.
The valuation of the trees, by the Forest Department RFO V P Gawas, copy of which is in possession of Herald, states that most of the trees were for firewood (IIIrd Class Timber) while the quantity of first and second class timber has been shown very less.
The valuation shows quantity of first class timber as only 0.687m3, quantity of second class as 2.374 m3 and third class 6.03 m3. The valuation of the entire lot is shown at just Rs 46,686.
Amarnath cultivated cashew, mango, jackfruit, black plum, kokum, etc, in his property and he now challenges the government to get him these plantations for the above amount.
“My annual income on the produce of these trees was Rs 2.5 lakh and my entire family was dependent on this,” he said adding, “the value should not have been less than Rs 25 lakh.”
Sanjay Raut, chartered accountant from Tuem, who has taken up the issue says, “They (Forest dept) have deliberately shown the trees as firewood and third class timber. Even if you consider the 442 trees as firewood its valuation would not be anything less than Rs 4 lakh.”
Uday Mandrekar, Virnoda panch asks, “On what basis has the valuation been carried out? Do the Forest Department officials know the value of timber in the market and how much a mango tree costs? The government must understand the value of the trees is not less than Rs 25 lakh.”
Environmentalist Ramesh Gauns says, “This is a grave injustice to the farmer as his family depended on these trees and now the government has undervalued the trees, which are worth much more.”
“It is hard to get justice for common man,” he said adding, “You don’t see it just as a tree but from the perspective of Amarnath as his annual produce was Rs 2.5 lakh and his family depended on that. Who will compensate him for this loss?”
Herald spoke to Architect Tulio de Sousa, who is into the real estate business and interior decoration, where wood is used in large quantity, for his view on the valuation and he says it has been below par.
“Even firewood should cost more,” he said adding “the classification of the trees in valuation report has to be questioned. The prices of timber in the market, be it any quality, has sky-rocketed in the past few years and it is unimaginable to get 442 trees for just Rs 46,686,” he said.
Naik has also petitioned Governor Mridula Sinha, first in English and then in Hindi, to save his land or at the very least, give him adequate compensation for his land and trees. Raj Bhavan merely passed the petition on to the Chief Secretary’s office.
Naik’s 8600 sq metres of tenanted land in Survey no 38/6, is on a slope and is demarcated as a ‘No Development Zone’, but the government suddenly decided to build an approach road on this land by cutting around 442 trees.
