Farmers Relied on Margao ODP 2032 in getting zones reverted to agriculture fields, but it now stands suspended
MARGAO
With pre-monsoon showers lashing the State, farmers from Madel and Aquem are looking forward to yet another kharif season.
As they gear up to cultivate the fields of their ancestors, these farmers, however, seem to have no idea what lies in store for them over their battle for the return of their fertile agricultural fields, forcibly acquired by the government around a decade and half ago.
They had pinned their hopes that the 2032 Outline Development Plan (ODP) for Margao will revert the zones of these fields back to agriculture, before the Town and Country Planning Department (TCP) suspended the ongoing ODP process.
Having filed their objections to the ODP 2032 when it was opened for public objections and suggestions, the beleaguered farmers are indeed looking for the day when the zones are reverted back to agriculture. They feel that the change in zone on the Margao ODP would take them a step closer to the return of the fields of their ancestors back in their possession.
The sentiments aired by the farmers are understandable given the sustained battle they have been waging with successive governments for the return of their agricultural fields. Take note, these farmers have not stopped cultivation since the government acquired the fields around a decade and half ago. They, however, see red over the SGPDA’s move to notify a portion of the Madel fields as a special commercial zone to set up a tech hub. Farmers from Aquem-Baixo too have expressed their concern over GSUDA’s plans to secure the fields with barbed wire fencing, fearing the move is only aimed at displacing them from the land of their ancestors.
Says Aquem-Baixo farmer, Claudius Dias: “When the SGPDA had opened the OPD 2032 for suggestions and objections, farmers cultivating the fields opposite the Margao railway station were quick to file their suggestion, with a plea to return the agricultural fields back to them. We have now been told that the ODP has been suspended by the government. We have no idea whether the SGDPA will consider our suggestions or whether we will be required to submit fresh suggestions and objections.”
Similar sentiments were expressed by Mackenzie D’Costa, a farmer from Madel, who has been doing the rounds of the SGPDA since the ODP was opened last year. “We have heard about the government’s decision on suspending the Margao ODP, but I am trying to find out whether the government has suspended the ODP 2032 process or the notified 2028 OPD, where a portion of the acquired fields were shown as special commercial zones,” Mackenzie said.
He added: “Recently, the farmers had a litany at the cross in the fields, wherein we all prayed to the Almighty to enlighten the minds of the powers that be and pave way for the return of the fields back to the farmers.”
Both Claudius and Mackenzie, however, said the farmers of Aquem-Rawanfond and Madel are bracing up to cultivate the agricultural fields in the ensuing Kharif season.
Claudius added: “Farmers from Aquem-Rawanfond have started cleaning the fields to prepare them for the Kharif season. We cultivate paddy during the Kharif season and then go for vegetable production on the land in the remaining part of the year. In fact, we farmers not only meet the requirement of fresh vegetables for the local community, but supply the surplus veggies to the Horticulture Corporation.”
WHAT’S THE FARMERS BATTLE ALL ABOUT?
The sustained battle by the beleaguered farmers of Madel and Aquem-Rawanfond dates back to a decade and half ago when the Goa Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) forcibly acquired the fields to set up public utility projects.
At Madel, GSUDA had rushed with the acquisition of the lush green paddy fields admeasuring 1.37 lakh square metres over a decade and half, bulldozing its way for a controversial truck terminus. Since then, farmers of Madel have been cultivating the acquired fields year after year, opposing all moves to set up public utility projects on the acquired land.
In the ODP 2028, the zone of the fields was partly changed to Special Commercial Zone to house a tech hub, triggering protests by the farmers, as they demanded that the PDA revert the zone back to agriculture.
A memorandum submitted to the PDA in 2021 pointed out that these low-lying paddy fields act as catchment areas for flood waters of the River Sal which runs along the western boundary of the fields, as they questioned why commercial info tech hub zone is now shown on the agricultural land in the ODP 2028.
On the southern side of the commercial capital, farmers of Aquem-Baixo and Rawanfond have been waging a similar struggle after the GSUDA had acquired the fields admeasuring around 28,000 square metres opposite the Margao railway to set up a transportation centre.
These farmers have vetoed the PWD’s plan to rehabilitate the displaced kiosk owners operating at the Rawanfond junction around 2010. They again got the Margao Municipal to abandon plans to stack the RDF from Sonsodo at the fields a year ago.
