PONDA: Six years ago, Tukaram Gaude, a farmer from Dhavlim, gave up his fertile agricultural lands to make way for the 15 MLD Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) at Ponda. On Tuesday, Gaude, with his family in tow, held a protest at the STP site, alleging that the Sewerage Corporation failed to compensate him for his sacrifice, and did not fulfill any of the promises they had made while acquiring his ancestral land, measuring over 3,000 sq mts.
“In 2016, an engineer from the Sewerage Corporation, Pradeep Gaude met me several times to acquire my land for the STP project. In return, I was promised two government jobs for my family members, and he said the government would construct a wedding hall on a piece of land I own near the highway, within six months. He obtained an irrevocable NOC from me, and none of these promises have materialised,” said a tearful Gaude, who claimed he has lost his livelihood.
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“I used to harvest two crops each year from this land. Over the past six years, I had to sell all my valuables to feed my family, and the government has spent crores on this STP, but has not bothered about my plight,” said Gaude, who said he has made repeated trips to the Sewerage Department at Ponda, but has always been turned away.
He admitted that Gaude gave the family two temporary jobs, paying a monthly salary of Rs 5,000, which was later hiked to Rs 10,000, but added that they were not permanent government jobs. “The hall that my family was promised, in order to earn us a stable income, has not been built, either,” he added. Gaude has now threatened to go on an indefinte agitation at the STP site.
The farmer said he cannot afford to fight his case in court, but had submitted petitions to the Chief Minister, PWD Minister, SIDCGL, the local MLA and the Power Minister but has not received any response as yet.
