Team Herald
PANJIM: Mapusa farmers association Shri Bodgeshwer Shetkari Sangh on Thursday said they would protest the Mapusa Outline Development Plan (ODP) that was recently kept open for the public if they were not taken into consideration. The farmers union said they would protest outside the Legislative Assembly if their suggestions were not considered by August 8.
Sanjay Barde, president of the Sangh said that while they were not against development, they wanted to save the green cover for the city. “We are not against development, but we would like to save some green cover for traditional farming. The farmers have always been sidelined whenever the questions of ODP and development came up. We were never taken into consideration,” he said.
In a letter to the chief minister, Barde along with 160 other farmers, said that there has been no representation from their community in the task force and has asked for several issues related to the ODP to be resolved.
It is seen that around 18 lakh square meter of Mapusa fields is required for development of the township. “But what will be the effect of this on the environment?” the letter to the chief minister asks. Since the fields are low lying, land filling would result in stagnation and back flow of water, they state.
The farmers have strongly objected to constructions in areas that are marked as fields.
The group has placed its demands before the chief minister and has said that if they are not resolved by August 8, they would stage a dharna in front of the assembly on August 9.
