The case of Mapusa-based police constable turned builder Tarak Arolkar who is allegedly filling a khazan field at Dhargal in Pernem taluka is one among several such cases which throw up critical questions on our systems and bring into sharp focus the urgent need to protect khazan lands, just as the Town and Country Planning department has moved on illegal conversion of orchard land.
In the Tarak case, the Pernem Deputy Collector has issued directions to "stop henceforth the construction work in the property surveyed under Survey No. 177/1 of Dhargal village and to restore the land to its original use i.e. agriculture. Construction work of the compound wall and land filing has been going on since the last 18 months. What was the administration and the local body doing during this time? Does our system wait endlessly for someone to take the initiative and file a complaint and risk their lives against the powerful land lobby? Is there nobody watching when hundreds of trucks are moving through the khazan lands at Dhargal indulging in rampant land filling in full view? And what about the unscrupulous land filling that is being carried out in the adjoining khazan lands? Is it not the responsibility of the administration to even once notice this illegality and study it? There may be no answers to these questions and actions like these throw serious questions on the honesty and transparency of our systems. It is instances like these that make the common man believe that there is major collusion between the land lobby and the powers that be. Instances like these throw questions on the forces behind individuals like Tarak, who rose up to become a big land developer from humble beginnings of a police constable. This is where the thought of land mafia-political nexus takes shape.
How many times have we seen land being restored? The damage is already done and long after the dust is settled and the issue is buried in the background, work will continue. Perhaps then another complaint will be required to be filed for the entire process to roll off once again.
The recent initiative of cracking down on illegal conversion of orchard land is well appreciated. Government should take its khazan lands also very seriously. Similar penalties and strictures need to be put in place against those misusing these lands. Notices have been served and forgotten and whatever action follows appears to be merely an eyewash. Restarting cultivation on private khazan lands which have been left barren for many years may be a very costly affair. Government should consider taking possession of all such khazan lands and pay necessary compensation to the farmers, or the irrigation department should work out ways to make them cultivable. Alternatively, now that the solar policy is out, government should plan using such lands to set up solar plants and pay the farmers from the money generated from the power.
