CORTALIM
On Monday, about 30 affected farmers gathered at the fields and showed to the media the damage that had been caused to their crops which would have been ripe for harvesting soon.
“The piling for the bridge pillar resulted in saline water oozing out and destroying our crops,” claimed Caitano Fernandes, who is the attorney of the association while demanding compensation.
Another member of the association, Jyothi Salgaokar also demanded that the government adequately compensate for their crops, which is their source of living.
Another farmer, Inacio More, expressed fear that their paddy fields might turn fallow in future if the authorities fail to keep the water way beneath the highway open for water to follow across.
What has surprised the farmers was that despite assurances by the government that the bridge would be a state-of-the-art project, the government was still following the primitive methods of placing pipes for water to follow which was also done in the fields of Agassaim and Goa Velha.
“These pipes in due course of time get submerged or clogged with mud which hinders the smooth flow of water,” a farmer told The Goan.
In fact, the one-man Justice Oza Commission appointed in the aftermath of the protests against the Konkan Railway in 1990’s, had recommended construction of (viaducts/spans) in the khazan fields for smooth flow of water on the railway alignment.
Late Matanhy Saldanha, who was on the forefront to demand concrete spans over waterways by Konkan Railway, ensured during his tenure as MLA that culverts would be built on span and not pipes, which he ensured at Sindolim culvert in Sancoale and new Belem road in Pale-Velsao and other places.
Meanwhile, the aggrieved farmers have now decided to petition CM Parrikar, Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha and the Directortate of Agriculture to demand fair compensation for their loss and also to protect their fields for posterity.
