the goan I network
MARGAO
More than a decade and half after the BJP government had bulldozed its way by acquiring the lush green agricultural fields at Madel for a song to house the controversial truck terminus, a tech hub and a community farming hub is sought to be established on the GSUDA acquired land in the Outline Development Plan (ODP) for Margao.
While the TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai may take credit for shelving the controversial truck terminus and for effecting the change in the zone of the acquired land from commercial to agriculture and institutional, it’s, however, still unclear whether the farmers, who have been cultivating the fields of their ancestors over last 15-16 years, notwithstanding the GSUDA’s acquisition, will be accommodated in the community farming hub proposed in the ODP.
The SGPDA’s hand out on the ODP only speaks about accommodating two projects, a community farming project and the tech hub on the acquired land. In respect of the community’s farming hub, it has been proposed in the ODP to earmark a special area admeasuring 54,000 square metre (approx 13.5 acres) as an innovative initiative. “This initiative, which is one of its kind project, will take local farmers as its partners and will house various features, which will involve growing and selling locally grown agro products within the earmarked zone. The project will comprise of green houses for vegetables, a hydroponics centre which will initiate growth of vegetables without soil, space for locally grown vegetables like tambdi bhaji,” the PDA statement stated.
As far as the proposed tech hub is concerned, the PDA statement stated that the basic need for a technology hub has been felt for more than a decade now and the provision of a tech hub is an excellent opportunity for getting back the engineers of the soil back to Goa. This tech hub will also go a long way to bring investment, jobs and talent to the region. “Goa faces a very real and pressing need for initiatives to create employment opportunities for our own IT professionals,” the PDA statement added.
While the PDA statement envisages a community farming hub on the acquired land, it is still unclear whether paddy cultivation, the prime activity on the land for the moment, may pave way for vegetable cultivation.
Farmers, who had lost their land, had been demanding the return of their acquired land with the truck terminus shelved and scrapped, but successive governments had only paid lip service to their long pending demand.
In the past, the acquired land was sought to be put to use to house an amusement park, but the project never saw the light of day. Around half a decade ago, the BJP government had mooted an idea of shifting the Margao KTC bus stand to the acquired land, but local farmers along with the local MLA Vijai Sardesai and activist late Fr Bismarque Dias had strongly opposed the move, forcing the then government to do a rethink.
