Team Herald
MARGAO: The farmers of Navelim who recently successfully recultivated Salpem lake fields that were fallow for decades, have demanded that the Water Resources Department (WRD) remove the abandoned canals that pass through their fields and are presently serving as an impediment to the movement of tractors and other farming equipment.
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A meeting had been fixed in this regard with the WRD Executive Engineer on Tuesday, but the official was not present. Nonetheless, the farmers held a meeting where they discussed various solutions they can pursue.
One of the farmers added that they had been given misleading information by the local MLA about the WRD’s plans for the canals, where they found out that it was not connected to their fields but to some beautification plans.
However, the farmers, who pointed out that the canal had not transported any water and has stopped being functional for years now, needs to be demolished and removed so that the area where the canals are at the moment can be returned to the original owners, the farmers, who can then take up that area too under cultivation.
Given that there is an ongoing Public Interest Litigation (PIL) regarding the pollution of River Sal, there were suggestions that the WRD could be made a party to that PIL.
