Resurvey begins at Wadem Colony to solve demands of Selaulim evacuees

This resurvey operations follow from the high-level meeting chaired by Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar and ministers Filipe Neri Rodrigues and Jennifer Monserrate along with Sanguem MLA Prasad Gaonkar and government officials last week.

The meeting had been convened after Gaonkar had submitted a memorandum highlighting the problems faced by Selaulim Evacuees even after 35 years of their displacement.

Authorities began the first step of getting the issue resolved by starting resurvey operations at Wadem Colony 1.

Accompanied by Sanguem MLA Prasad Gaonkar, WRD officials Damodar Dessai, Mayur Gaonkar and a team of eight surveyors visited the village to conduct resurvey operations.

Gaonkar said resurvey operations were necessary to identify plots which were left vacant at the time of rehabilitation and to allot them to 72 families who are yet to be provided with housing and agricultural plots, despite having sacrificed their ancestral land for the construction of Selaulim Dam.

Incidentally, the resurvey will also throw light on vast encroachments by some beneficiaries on the open land and those enjoying double benefits.

Speaking at the site, Gaonkar informed that resurvey operations would take around three months. “Immediately after that, the process to allot vacant plots to the 72 families will begin and this process may take another couple of months,” said Gaonkar.

Gaonkar also said the State government is simultaneously working to resolve the issue of Class II occupants being held by some beneficiaries.

“Given the present Class II status of the beneficiaries, many evacuees find it hard to obtain loan to develop agriculture plots allotted to them by the government,” said the Sanguem MLA.

The affected evacuees are now hopeful of getting their issues resolved following the intervention of MLA Prasad Gaonkar, who has been constantly following up the matter.