Team Herald
SANGUEM: Ever since the land acquisition proceedings for the IIT project in Sanguem was cleared by the Collector South Goa, the mamlatdar’s office in Sanguem has swung into action over the inquiry in the land acquisition matter.
Sources informed that Sanguem mamlatdar’s office has commenced inquiry over the tenancy claims, to verify the veracity of the claims. It is learnt that most of the claims were from second or third generation of the original tenants and the claimants were orally directed to prove the relations with the original tenants through legal documents.
Incidentally, there were also cases where tenants have been cultivating paddy fields without having applied for tenancy order as of date.
Sanguem MLA Prasad Gaonkar is also reported to have visited the mamlatdar’s office on Wednesday reportedly to inquire over the progress made in the land acquisition proceedings.
Inquiries revealed that though the government rates for Cotarli village, where the IIT is reported to be set up was fixed at Rs 500 per square meter, the government has pegged the rates for compensation to the land owners at Rs 600 per sq mtrs and the same has been reportedly informed to the tenants at the time of inquiry.
Meanwhile, though no resistance or objections have come from the farming community as of date, some farmers are likely to complain of the land acquisition proceedings at the cost of the ancestral agricultural land.
Moreover, those farmers having their paddy fields beyond the land to be acquired for the project are in the process of approaching the authorities to demarcate a feasible road access to their paddy fields before the completion of the land acquisition proceedings.
The government is literally at an advantage if the project stands finalised at Cotarli village for the sole reason that an area of about nine lakhs square metres in the village stands recorded in the name of Goa government in the survey records.
In such an eventuality the government would save a huge amount towards the land acquisition proceedings as it did not have to pay private land owners.
Though the Nadkarnis from Sanguem have been claiming ownership rights towards a portion of the land which is in the name of the government of Goa, the Nadkarnis are reportedly lagging behind in the ownership claim as far as court order is concerned and as such will have to wait for a long time to claim ownership towards the land, which is now set to be used for the IIT project.
It is pertinent to note here that the South Goa Collector has specifically mentioned of claims to be accepted only after scrutiny of proper ownership documents and not otherwise.
