TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: Former PWD Minister Churchill Alemao’s ambitious plan to acquire a whopping 2.72 lakh sq mts of land around the Sirvodem Sewage Waste Treatment Plant is finally down and out.
After a sustained battle by the farmers under the banner of Salpem Tollem Xetkarancho Ekvott since 2009, the government has decided to drop the land acquisition proceedings after a Cabinet decision.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told Navelim villagers on Tuesday that the land acquisition issue will be placed before the next Cabinet meeting to scrap the proposal. “There was no need for the PWD to acquire such a huge quantum of land by displacing farmers. We will discuss the issue at the Cabinet before it is finally dropped,” he said.
The government had kept the land acquisition proceedings on hold a couple of months ago after Navelim MLA and Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado led the farmers and villagers to Panjim to scrap the proposal. “I am happy that the Chief Minister has announced dropping of the land acquisition proposal. The Salpem lake will be taken up for beautification by the government,” he said.
Farmers and villagers of Navelim had taken to the streets way back in December 2009 when the previous Congress government led by Digmabar Kamat notified the land acquisition proposal to acquire 2.72 lakh sq mts of land. The avowed objective was to expand Margao’s sewage plant and to provide a buffer zone around the plant.
Pleas by the villagers and farmers to then Navelim MLA and PWD Minister, Churchill Alemao failed to yield the desired result, forcing them to knock the doors of various authorities, including the judiciary, but in vain. Sources said the PWD is now proposing to the government to acquire bare minimum 25,000 sq mts of land for the treatment plant.
