Govt bulldozing its way with land acquisitions!

Govt bulldozing its way with land acquisitions!
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 13  
What’s common between the government proposals to acquire land for the multi-purpose utility project at Davorlim, fish meal project at Cutbona and the kabrastan at Sonsodo?
Perhaps for the first time in recent years, the government has literally kept the public in the dark over the specific purpose for which the land is sought to be acquired under the guise of public purpose.
If the government intends to acquire land at Cutbona Jetty by not specifying the public purpose, land acquisition for the “multi-purpose utility project” at Davorlim gives wide powers and discretion to the government to set up any project on the acquired land.
Take the case of acquisition of land admeasuring 30,000 sq mts at the Cutbona fishing jetty. For the first time, the government set in motion the process to acquire the land by maintaining silence on the public purpose. Worse still is the fact that while the Fisheries Director S C Verencar insisted that the land was being acquired for expansion of the fishing jetty, Fisheries Minister Joaquim Alemao publicly admitted that it was acquired for the fish meal plant. Why the government decided to keep the land acquisition purpose under wraps is still a mystery, but not before local villagers came onto the streets and forced the government to keep the land acquisition process on hold.
The multi-purpose utility project proposed at Davorlim is another case in point. Land admeasuring 1.15,200 sq mts is sought to be acquired for the proposed multipurpose utility project, without keeping the villagers informed of what projects would finally come up on the Communidade land.
Sources in the know said the South Goa District Collector, G P Naik, who is the acquiring department in the case of the multi-purpose utility project, was asked by the Land Acquisition Office to specify the specific purpose behind acquiring the land, but the process continues. It is feared even in official circles that the government might try to dump any project on the land under the concept of “multipurpose utility” taking advantage of court order that land acquired for one purpose can be utilized for another purpose.
Land acquisition for the proposed kabrastan at Sonsodo is yet another example how the government can bulldoze its way with acquisition of land, including private land, without complying with mandatory provisions.
When the Margao Municipal Council accorded its nod for the acquisition of 30,000 sq mts of land for the proposed kabrastan, city fathers were clear that the land was owned by the Margao Communidade. However, bowing to the dictates of the government and the powers that be, the Land Acquisition Office is acquiring 16,000 sq mts of private land for the burial grounds without sanction from the civic body. Margao city fathers in private admit that they had given the nod to acquire only the communidade land and not the adjoining private property.
That’s not all. Sources in the know informed that Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act was notified to acquire the land without even seeking administrative approval, knowing well that the approval would come in later.