Aldona MLA warns draft could pave way for large-scale land grabbing
Aldona MLA Carlos Ferreira has raised strong objections to a recent draft notification proposing a comprehensive survey of all land in Goa, alleging it is a “ploy” by the BJP-led government to facilitate the grabbing of Goans’ properties.
Addressing the media, Ferreira said the government had quietly notified the Goa Geospatial Knowledge Based Land Survey of Urban Habitation Rules, 2025 on October 9.
The rules empower the Land Survey Department to conduct geospatial surveys and upload all collected data as digital records.
“I have no objection to surveys, but these rules are being brought in through the backdoor. They are meant to usurp people’s land, houses and fields,” Ferreira said.
The MLA pointed out that Rule 3 authorises the land survey director to issue notices informing residents of upcoming surveys. House owners, mortgagees, NRIs and others with interest in the land would be required to provide supporting information to ensure accurate measurement and recording of rights.
Ferreira also questioned the decision to upload Goa’s land data onto the GIS portal of the Madhya Pradesh State Electronic Development Corporation.
“What happened to Goa Electronics Limited? Why hand our sensitive data to an outside corporation?” he asked, alleging that such data could be “manipulated, shared or even sold”.
He further highlighted that inquiry officers, under the new framework, would prepare lists of unoccupied or unclaimed plots and submit them to the Collector for action under the Goa Escheats Forfeiture and Bona Vacantia Act, 2024. Ferreira claimed he had already warned in the Assembly that this amounted to a “land grabbing law”.
Questioning why agricultural land was excluded from the survey, Ferreira alleged the government was targeting free-hold land with commercial value.
Urging Goans to safeguard their documents, he warned: “One day an order will come to vacate, and people will be on the streets.”
