On January 22, Benny looked alarmed at the Goa StatePollution Control Board officials and vehicles arriving in a cloud of dust onhis lands. After a minor argument he was informed that they had come to inspectthe land to grant a NOC for an upcoming construction project. “But this is ourland and we never asked for an NOC,” he retorts as his voice falls on deafears. For Benny or Benovolo D’Souza, President-elect of Communidade ofBambolim, the fight to wrest his land away from unscrupulous individuals goeson.
In what is emerging as yet another major attack on theinstitution of Communidade, a local individual has clandestinely inserted hisname on 44 properties belonging to the Communidade of Bambolim. The matter cameto light when the Communidade in 1998 found that large tracts of its land wasbeing plotted and sold by builders. Typical of Goa’s Communidades, Bambolimfelt that the state of its land was undisputed. Vast tracts of its land wereacquired by the government to develop Goa Medical College. The trouble howeverstarted when it found, to its’ surprise, the name of a Maximo Mergulhao in 44of its properties. More to its surprise, it also came to light that Mergulhaohad since then transferred vast tracts of this property to Panjim baseddeveloper Raghubai Tamba by a Power of Attorney. The only problem being, theland was owned by the Communidade and by the Code of Communidade, its’ landcannot be sold by any individual.
“Our records do make a reference of the transfer of atleasttwo of the major lands Survey Nos. 89/3 and 92/3 via Aframento to a MariaConceicao Rodrigues but neither do we have any records of where Maria lived nordid Maria take the final possession. How then did the land get transferred inMaximo’s name and how did he go on selling Communidade’s property is what isbaffling?” asks Communidade of Bambolim’s attorney Luis Abreu. Abreu has beenquietly unearthing the institutionalised con that robbed the Communidade ofBambolim
The modus operandi was typically simple. In the 1970s, theCommunidade, unable to take care of its vast cashew plantations, began toauction them. It was only in 1995, when it came to light that Mergulhao’s namewas occurring frequently in Communidade files. The then President ofCommunidade was helpless, as the institution had no papers to defend its ownlands. He hurriedly issued a decree that was used in connivance with the localTalathi. The decree stated that Mergulhao was an occupant of the land. Theoutrage against the Communidade continued as Mergulhao gave away Power of Attorneyto Tamba who since then has been developing these plots on the picturesqueBambolim Plateau overlooking the Zuari River. This prime land is one of themost expensive properties in Goa.
“The land was inherited by Maximo Mergulhao from his motherin law who had paid a twenty year lease rent for the land. As per law, when youpay a twenty year lease for a land that has been given to you by theCommunidade it becomes yours. That is how it belonged to Maximo and I bought itfrom him. Deputy Collector Tiswadi did conduct a two year survey but theCommunidade failed to establish their claim,” said Tamba.
