The recent decision of the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) to consider a proposal for the much opposed truck terminus at Madel has sparked an outrage among those who have been opposing the project for a decade and a half.
Over the last 15 years, farmers from Madel along with residents have been fighting a lengthy battle with successive governments after land admeasuring 1.37 lakh sq mts was forcibly acquired by the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) for the truck terminus project.
Questions have been raised as to why the government is keen on pushing a project that has been opposed so much by the locals and it was a point of debate for the last two elections. The affected farmers have also questioned why the government is now reviving a project that was scrapped around 8 years ago due to public sentiment and why the land should not be returned to the farmers given that it was not utilised for the project it was acquired for. Farmers reiterate that some of them still use the land for cultivation and that the same land can be re-used for cultivation. The controversy erupted after the SGPDA decided to look into the project at its recent board meeting. The matter came up for discussion at the recent meeting on account of GSUDA having recently sent a fresh written proposal to mark the land acquired by the agency at Madel as a truck terminus.
The two MLAs have again opposed the project citing that it appears to be a back door entry to revive a project opposed by the locals. SGPDA Chairman Mauvin Godinho who chaired the meeting said that the PDA cannot be at variance with the decision of the people who had in the past opposed the truck terminus.
He acknowledged that they have received the proposal but said that considering the project had been scrapped in the past due to objections from the locals; SGDPA has asked GSUDA to make a powerpoint presentation. He added that they cannot take a decision just based on the letter and that they will have to deal with the issue with utmost care and only after the presentation is made will they be able to take a decision.
At the meeting, Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai protested and raised objections to the project vowing to oppose it. Similarly Margao MLA Digambar Kamat has also opposed the project and incidentally the project was scrapped when he was the chief minister of the erstwhile Congress government.
When Parrikar took over the reigns as the chief minister of the present BJP lead coalition government, he suggested that the Margao KTC bus stand be shifted to the acquired fields but the proposal evoked strong objections from the local residents, activists and two MLAs.
The Madel Social Welfare Action Committee has urged the government to immediately return back the land acquired for the truck terminus and help rehabilitate farmers displaced by the district Collectorate building and district hospital project that is in the vicinity of the proposed truck terminus area. Farmers insisted that they were had continued to cultivate the fields even after the acquisition and that the government should return the fields to the farmers and help retain the vast stretch of the lush green belt and should de-notify the land as commercial zone or public utility and maintain it as a green belt. They had also pointed out that the government had forcefully displaced the farmers to make room for the truck terminus in a residential area.
