the goan I network
MARGAO
In an interesting development, the SGPDA has changed the zone of the acquired land on the Sonsodo hillock from kabrastan to housing in Outline Development Plan (ODP) for Margao, throwing up two crucial questions “ whether niz Fatordekars will prefer to reside in the proposed housing colony overlooking the existing cemetery.
It still remains unclear who are the people from Fatorda who will be allotted the low-cost housing as has been proposed in the ODP, again throwing the question of the impact, if any of the project, on the demography of the ward.
In fact, with the government shelving the kabrastan project at Sonsodo, around eight years after the Congress government in 2011 had acquired the land for the burial grounds for the Muslim community, the government had prepared a road map to put the acquired land admeasuring 30,000 square meters for housing.
The land in question belongs to the government acquired for the purpose of setting up the kabrastan, and is located on a steep gradient just above the existing cemetery.
The statement released by the SGPDA on the day of finalizing the ODP speaks about providing low-cost housing for Fatordekars. “As our population grows so should the availability of houses. As our new city grows and older areas mature, new spaces should be provided to house the ever-growing population,” the statement added.
Inquiries with the SGPDA have revealed that the PDA has marked around 12,000 square meters of the acquired land for the kabrastan for the proposed low-cost housing. And, the PDA plans to set up a sub-station on the balance land.
Sources further informed that the PDA has marked only the lower portion of the acquired land of the ODP for the purpose of housing.
Questions are doing the rounds whether niz Fatordekars will prefer to opt for the low-cost housing in a land overlooking the cemetery and meters away from the stinking Sonsodo land.
Residents of Borda and adjoining Raia village had opposed the proposed kabrastan at Sonsodo on two counts, that the burial grounds for the Muslim population should not be located in their backyard and close to an existing cemetery and protect the verdant Sonsodo hillock from destruction just to pave way for the kabrastan.
Town and Country Planning (TCP) Minister Vijai Sardesai too has not come clear on his plan to provide low-cost housing for Fatordekars on the land acquired for the kabrastan and the people who will be eligible for the housing project.
The Sonsodo land was acquired by the Congress government headed by Chief Minister Digambar Kamat in 2011 on the eve of the 2012 Assembly elections apparently to sooth ruffled feathers of the Muslim population, which has been Kamat’s strong voter base.
The land, however, was never put to use after a local Muslim leader Abdulmatin Carol initially opposed the Sonsodo land for the proposed kabrastan on grounds of its location on a steep gradient.
A raging controversy broke out after the 2017 Assembly election when the coalition government headed by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar decided to conduct survey of the area, only to be vehemently opposed by the residents of Borda and Raia.
A joint meeting called by the Chief Minister to resolve the imbroglio had ended in a stalemate with the residents opposing the burial ground close to the Catholic cemetery tooth and nail, which later prompted the TCP
Minister to zero in on the land in Sirvodem to set up the kabrastan for the Muslim
community.
