CANACONA
Stating he had been raising the forest dwellers issues and their problems at every assembly session since he first got elected as legislator, Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar reaffirmed his commitment to resolve the pending Forest Rights Committee (FRC) cases within six months.
Kavlekar was addressing a meeting with the Kumeri cultivators and residents of Gaondongrim at Indrawada at the request of Deputy Speaker and Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes.
Earlier, residents accused the Forest Department of demarcating areas and putting poles in their Kumeri plots, which they had been cultivating for ages, and also alleged forest officials of threatening and harassing them.
“We have been growing seasonal cultivation and cashew cultivation for ages and we had submitted a representation to various authorities to claim our rights as Kumeri plots, but no authority responded to our claims,” complained a local.
“We have been living on these plantations which is in the name of Government of Goa, Daman and Diu (as per Form I and XIV), but now Forest Department claims it is their land and is initiating the Forest Act to snatch away our ancestral land.”
Another resident, Ashok Velip, claimed that in 2014, claims from Dharbandora, Sanguem and Canacona talukas were submitted, of which 209 claims/files were from Gaondongrim alone.
“While cases from Dharbondora and Sanguem cases were surveyed, only 45 FRC cases from Canacona, which includes just three cases from Gaondongrim were settled, leaving the 206 other claims of Gaondongrim residents pending,” he said.
Residents claimed they had submitted their claims to the Mamlatdar and other forest authorities in 1997, but had never got any reply.
Deputy Speaker and Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes, who had convened the meeting, assured that he would stand by the Kumeri cultivators.
“Two decades ago, I had brought ministers, forest officers and surveyors, so that the forest dwellers would get proper protection, but the matter got derailed somewhere. I will raise this issue in assembly once again,” said Fernandes.
Others present at the meeting included ZP member Shobana Velip, Gaondongrim Sarpanch Suman Gaonkar, Indrawada Panch Rupa Gaonkar, Round Forest Officer Vinod Desai, panch members besides and some prominent residents of Gaondongrim and Cotigao.
Applicants can still submit claims: RFO
CANACONA: Newly posted Canacona RFO Anant Velip defended Forest Department’s action by stating that the State government in 1989 had issued a notification and had appointed an FSO to receive claims and take decision on land ownership, which is still in force.
Stating that no final notification has been issued, Velip said applicants could still submit their claims to the FSO or Mamlatdar or his office, and assured to forward the claims to the government.
“I seek cooperation of residents to protect forestland and the forest department is presently only demarcating the area like mountain and not demarcating boundaries,” clarified Velip.
