MOPA: When the men came to his village to bulldoze not just trees for the Mopa link road, but also his life, and “mark” his property, Sandeep Kambli asked a simple question, why is this road being constructed?
“Why did they come to my land, who gave them the right to enter the same and do their work? When I questioned and asked them to show me the order showing that this road is going through my land and the work order they were unable to produce any document.”
Kambli is the president of the Mopa Vimantal Pidit Xetakari Samiti devoted to fighting for the causes of farmers ousted by the Mopa airport project. But on that day the forces he was battling for all came to his doorstep.
He continued, “We kept moving above the hills and in the forest for nearly an hour. When we reached down, we saw several policemen down in the village to stop the villagers taking law in their lands and also make sure the alleged illegal work going shouldn’t be stopped. Several locals also came down and raised their voices and concerns to save their village, the ecosystem and the forest.”
Uday Mahale, another local said that the villagers have gone several times to the panchayat and also met several officials from various departments but nothing has been.
The Sarpanch and the panchayat members have agreed to stop this work and issue a stop work order but the work continues and the bulldozers continue to work and cut trees day and night.
These are clear indications that no public consultation or hearing mandatory under the Right to Fair Compensation Act has been carried out.
Today the villagers are up in arms including the women and senior citizens to save their livelihood and the beauty and resources of the village. They say we are ready to begin a new movement, a movement to save their village and the state.
Mahale said, “Today the government is not bothered about the people and the forest, the forest is being destroyed and chopped as if they are cutting a lawn. Firstly this road was never planned before, and it’s planned through the forest and the village which has affected the local families, their homes and also the water resources. Today the springs and natural water flow has been damaged and blocked due to the ongoing work. We demand to stop this. After discussion among the villagers , the locals from the village and nearby village have decided to begin a new movement (andolan) to save their village, we urge the people of Goa to support them in this movement.”
An elderly man looked into sunset and the sunset years of his life and lamented, “The locals have given a lot of land for the airport but this link road is a burden and killing us. Today the government is killing us much before our final days. We have grown these trees for our generation, but the government and the officials have ruined all our savings. We don’t have jewellery and wealth in these trees and our land is our real wealth.”
