MARGAO
Local residents came face to face with police and demarcation officials as the government on Wednesday tried to demarcate the Provedoria land admeasuring 7,000 square metres which is now proposed for the Benaulim Health Centre.
While Benaulim MLA Churchill Alemao claimed the land belonged to Provedoria and which is now being transferred to the Health department for the proposed health centre, local residents demanded that Provedoria has failed to produce the ownership documents on the land.
Led by Santan Pereira, the local residents said they are not opposed to the proposed health centre per se, demanding the project be shifted to another site.
Churchill, on the other hand, firmly ruled out the possibility of shifting the health centre site, saying the land belongs to the government, adding that the demarcation has been carried out to find out the extent of encroachments made on the government land by some elements.
Santan demanded to know how the Collector, South had ordered the land demarcation when the Provedoria or any other department has failed to produce the ownership documents, laying claim on the land. “Let Provedoria show us the ownership land. We know that this land was gifted by a good Samaritan for the benefit of the poor and not for any other purpose,” he said, adding that the Provedoria could not provide the ownership documents when the local residents had filed RTI application.
Benaulim Deputy Sarpanch Nilesh Prabhudesai, who was present at the site, wondered why some people are afraid of the land demarcation if they have not encroached on the land in question.
Santan, however, wondered how the Provedoria can take up the exercise when they cannot even show the ownership documents. He further said the land in question is a low-lying area and is used by the people for agricultural activities.
Churchill later told the media that people should not oppose a public interest project such as a health centre. “I have proposed the project since there’s no health centre along Salcete coastal belt. People have to either go to Cansaulim or Chinchinim for their health needs. This land in question was zeroed on since people had objected to another site in Benaulim,” he said.
Saying the Provedoria land is not a low-lying area, Churchill thanked Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and the Health Minister for sanctioning the Benaulim health centre.
