MARGAO
Will the beleaguered farmers of Loutolim receive any good news from the government and the PWD Principal Chief Engineer when they sit across the table for a meeting on Monday, the third such meeting with their demand for an alternative alignment for the new high-level Borim bridge?
A delegation of farmers led by the chairman of the Tenants Association, Albert Pinheiro, called on local MLA and Environment Minister Alexio Sequeira at his residence a day after the farmers resisted the PWD’s demarcation exercise through the khazan fields.
The farmers explained to the minister how the present alignment would spell doom for the khazan fields, which have been cultivated for centuries by their ancestors. When the minister reportedly spoke about compensating the farmers, the delegation declined to accept the offer, saying if the bridge is constructed through the khazans it would cause irreparable damage to the fields as well as the adjoining khazan lands.
After the meeting, the minister called up Pinheiro to inform him that a meeting had been fixed with the Principal Chief Engineer on Monday.
“A delegation of farmers will attend the meeting with the Principal Chief Engineer on Monday. This is the third such meeting the farmers will have with the Principal Chief Engineer. Let us wait and see what the PWD has to explain to the farmers,” Pinheiro said.
Saying that the farmers have been making a simple demand before the government to find an alternative bridge alignment, Pinheiro said, “We will go for the meeting with the Principal Chief Engineer to listen to what the PWD has to say on our demand. If the PWD comes out with a modified alignment, we will request it to hold a presentation to the farmers. Let the farmers then take a call on the matter.”
Asserting that the matter is not as simple as made out to be by the government, Pinheiro warned that any attempt to tamper with the khazan lands will spell doom for the fields, which in the long run may destroy Loutolim. "The minister had recently stated that the PWD will build the bridge on stilts. Building the bridge on stilts through the khazan fields is not a solution. Debris left in the fields will cause permanent destruction,” he said.
Around 40-odd farmers have filed petitions before the National Green Tribunal with a plea to stop the PWD and the government from destroying the khazan fields. The petition is expected to come up for hearing in the first week of July.
