Migrants are rampantly encroaching upon Tivim Comunidade land and no power or authority is willing to take up the issue of eviction as these encroachers make up the vote bank of local politician.
Given the rapid rise in land prices, there has been a mad rush to encroach on land belonging to the Tivim Comunidade and as a result, property owned by the age-old system in the village is disappearing at an alarming pace.
Speaking to Herald, Tivim Comunidade members have estimated that the comunidade owns about 10 lakh sq mtrs of land; however, they are quick to add that other land belonging to the comunidade is yet to be accounted for and the process is underway to identify all comunidade land.
The members claimed that one piece of 65,000 sq mtrs of comunidade land has been encroached by migrants, while another piece of 20,000 sq mtrs has been encroached in another plot. They added that 50,000 sq mtrs of comunidade land has been encroached in yet another area, while one individual has encroached upon a whopping 1 lakh sq mtrs of comunidade land.
“Illegalities are flourishing in Tivim Comunidade land. A large area of comunidade land is being usurped by migrants who constitute the vote bank of local politicians and as a result, no politician is serious in preserving and protecting comunidade land,” remarked newly-elected attorney of Tivim Comunidade Mathew D’Souza.
“Even a High Court order regarding the eviction of encroachments on comunidade land at Tivim is being blatantly violated by the local powers, including the panchayat. We fear another Moti Dongor (illegal hutments in Margao) in Tivim. Encroachments are on the rise with each passing day and we are continuously knocking on the doors of the court to intervene in the matter,” D’Souza added.
“We want to inform the court that its earlier order is being violated and that it should step in to prevent the situation from getting out of control,” D’Souza added.
President of Tivim Comunidade Peter Sequeira informed that concerned residents of Tivim have come together under the banner of ‘United Citizens of Tivim’ (UCT) and are fighting to protect comunidade land.
“In March, UCT along with the Tivim sarpanch and panchayat secretary conducted a site inspection and found that several new structures had come up on comunidade land. It appears that no one is really interested in protecting comunidade land,” said Sequeira. “We have written several letters to various authorities; however, we have not received any reply from them. It appears that the authorities appointed by the government are found acting at the whims and fancies of the politicians with vested interests,” he added.
Citing one such instance, Tivim Cominidade member Antonio Fonseca said, “In the Official Gazette of August 16, the Office of Administrator North Zone has announced that land belonging to the Tivim Comunidade in Survey 281/1 and Plot 42 has been allotted to an applicant, one Sagar Pushekar of Arpora. Incidentally, the same plot has also been allotted to Maria Helena in 2010, as per the Official Gazette April 1, 2010. This is a clear indication that the office of the administrator is being misused to conduct such corrupt acts,” said Fonseca.
Fonseca also expressed dismay over the attitude of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in their struggle.
“Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, supported the Tivim Comunidade issue in the Assembly, when he was the opposition leader. Now as the chief minister, heis not even ready to listen to our grievances and does not give us an appointment to meet him regarding the issue,” lamented Fonseca.
