MARGAO
Terming the government’s bid to regularize illegal houses on Comunidade land as an election gimmick, some of the Comunidades from Salcete on Sunday came out openly against the government’s move, saying such a move will only open the floodgates for encroachment on Communidade lands across the State.
Representatives of the Comunidade bodies of Chinchinim, Deussua, Sirlim, Dramapur, Velim, and Sarzora met at Chinchinim on Sunday to discuss and to take stock of the government’s recent announcement to regularize illegal houses on Communidade land.
After the meeting, Chinchinim Comunidade head Agnelo Furtado told the media that the government has no power to legalize illegal encroachments on comunidade land.
“There is a Supreme Court ruling clearly that community land cannot be alienated. When the SC had asked the States to file an affidavit on the status of community land, the Chief Secretary, Goa too had filed an affidavit stating that Goa too comes under the community land,” Agnelo said.
Saying that the government seemed to have drawn up a plan to win the Lok Sabha election by promising regularization of the illegal structures on Comunidade land, Agnelo has warned that such a move will set a bad precedent having huge ramifications for the existing comunidade bodies in the future.
“Our ancestors had protected the Comunidade land. There’s a misconception that the Comunidade land had come into force after the Portuguese came to Goa. In reality, the Comunidade lands were in existence much before the arrival of Portuguese and were known as Gaunkarial land,” he added.
Reminding that the Chinchinm Panchayat and the Gram Sabha was the first to object to the Bhumiputra bill, Agnelo said the people of these villages will again come in the forefront to oppose any Bill that seeks to regularize illegal constructions on Communidade land.
Chinchinim villager Cyril Leitao said any move by the government to regularize illegal constructions on communidade land will open the floodgates for migrants to encroach on the communidade land.
