MARGAO
The 2600 housing units mooted in Cuncolim near the industrial estate are being proposed by the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) under the Prime Minister’s Housing scheme to accommodate all homeless people, not just from Cuncolim, but from across Goa.
A senior GSUDA official told The Goan that the housing scheme is still at the infancy stage as necessary spadework is being carried out by the department, including obtaining sanction from the Centre and permissions from local authorities. So far, the Cuncolim Municipal Council has been kept in the dark over the housing scheme, but the GSUDA official said the scheme will be submitted to the civic body for approval after securing the necessary permissions.
To a question, the GSUDA official said the housing colony is being proposed to accommodate all the homeless people from Goa, including Cuncolim. He said the municipal councils had prepared a list of the homeless people in their respective jurisdictions and these applicants will get preference once the scheme takes concrete shape.
What’s interesting to note is that even before the proposal could be placed before the Cuncolim Municipal Council, it has got a nod from the state-level sanctioning authority under the Urban Development Ministry dealing with the Prime Minister Housing for all Scheme.
The GSUDA official, however, had no answer when it was pointed out to him that the housing colony will change the demography of the historic Cuncolim village as it seeks to settle people from outside the area.
Sources in the know said the land in question, admeasuring around 4.5 lakh square metres is owned by a private individual, who has been approached by some developers from Vasco for development.
If sources are to be believed, the land is located near the CMC garbage treatment plant and extends close to the Konkan railway tracks.
CMC ward councillor Mario Moraes, in whose ward the property in question is located, said a host of government officials from various departments had recently inspected the area to ascertain its feasibility to set up the proposed housing colony. “The housing colony proposal has not come before the Cuncolim Municipal Council yet. The government has kept the civic body completely in the dark,” he lamented.
Mario has suspected that the private builder from Vasco is keen to purchase the property and utilize the land to execute the unwanted project.
Meanwhile, councillors Shashank Desai and Succorin Coutinho told the media that the project, if allowed, will bring hordes of outsiders into Cuncolim.
“Presently, the villagers of Cuncolim are facing health hazard due to the existing industries,” they said, warning that they along with the villagers will come on the roads if the government bulldozes with the project.
