MARGAO
Will the 48-year old long wait for the rehabilitation of the 643 displaced persons, whose lands were acquired by the government to make way for South Goa’s lifeline, the Selaulim irrigation project, be finally over by the year-end?
Revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrate has offered a ray of hope for the displaced families by vowing to resolve all issues concerning rehabilitation by the end of the year.
After a meeting with Deputy Chief Minister, Chandrakant Kavlekar and South District Collector Ajit Roy, the Revenue Minister promised to resolve the issue of classification of Class I owners by October end in phase I and resolve the pending issues of the 72 families, who are still not allotted the land, in the second phase.
Saying that around seven-eight surveyors have been drafted at Sanguem to resolve all outstanding issues concerning the displaced families, the Revenue Minister thanked the Collector, Deputy Collectors, Mamlatdars and other revenue officials for their cooperation and support to realize the dreams of the displaced families.
“Around 643 persons were displaced because of the Selaulim project, out of which around 216 have received the titles. The issue of 72 families will be resolved in the second phase. These families need not now wait for long. The classification of the ownership title for the land will be done in a month’s time. We will finish phase I in October. The second phase will be completed in two months. All the issues should be hopefully resolved by the end of the year,” Jennifer added.
Kavlekar thanked the Revenue Minister for her initiative to resolve the issue once and for all. “Many Revenue Ministers had come and handed out the promise to resolve the issue of the displaced persons, but only Jennifer has set in motion the process to address the issue,” he added.
The Deputy Chief Minister pointed out that though the government had done the land allotment to the displaced families in 1972, they have not become the rightful owners.
“For the last 48 years, these families faced the issue of ownership rights. If people of South Goa are now receiving uninterrupted drinking water supply from Selaulim, it is because of the sacrifice made by these people,” Kavlekar said.
He recalled that the issue had figured at almost every Assembly session, but the people only received promises from successive governments.
