Mopa villagers stare at devastation & destruction as traditional water spring not spared

ASMITA POLJI

asmita@herald-goa.com

MOPA: In less than a month, the link road at Mopa has been made, bulldozing everything from vegetation to protests and people’s hopes. Lives, livelihoods, and even the confidence that the courts will give justice is sought to be destroyed by the government-controlled project to build a link road to the Mopa airport.

People depended on the plantation around them and the spring. Their simple lives were sustained by these. The fruit trees gave them livelihood and the spring their water. Both have been destroyed.

Since the time the process of demarcation and acquisition of land, the affected farmers from Tulaskarwadi Nagzar, Warkhand, Dhargal have been raising their objection to the manner in which the basic norms of engagement with people whose lives will be affected by the project, were not followed.

During their protests, hundreds of people from the locality, social workers, women, and youth were also detained on February 20.

Along with the three petitions that the farmers have filed before the high court and awaiting a hearing, the government authorities have even ignored the show cause cum stop work notice of the local panchayat making the panchayat, as well as people living in villages, realise that the village body has supreme authority but only in the books and not on the ground.

After clearing the land by bulldozing the thousands of fruit-bearing trees, the contractor is currently leveling the land along with soil testing at different locations from Dhargal to Tulaskarwadi. In this process, the contractor has even buried a spring flowing through the village of Tulaskarwadi on which they were dependent for generations. 

Manoj Salgaonkar a resident of Tulaskarwadi said, “The whole plantation has been destroyed along with the spring flowing through the village. The livelihood of the farmers is destroyed for the benefit of rich people who will have their business at the aerocity for which around 16,000 lakh sqmt of land has been acquired. The link road has no connection to the Mopa airport. All the departments are involved in the illegality including the forest department which does not have any report of how many trees are bulldozed.”

A woman farmer said, “The spring which flows down through the jungle has been buried with mud. Our generations have survived on this spring for consumption as well as other purposes. When we don’t receive tap water, this was the only source of water for us.”

Farmers ask if the government is purposely delaying the hearing in the matters so that before the court could pass any order against the project, the government will be ready with the project. Even the compensation to the farmers for the loss that is caused has not been settled.

The big question is in the name of development, can the destruction of people’s lives be justified.