The villages of Assolna Velim Cuncolim are known for itspatriotism and Velim amongst the three has a huge history of producing some ofGoa’s finest freedom fighters. But sadly the land they fought for has a smalldwindling population as people have left Velim for the cities of Margao andPanjim.
“Velim along with its neighbouring villages of Assolna andCuncolim (AVC) do not just have a huge significance in Goa, but alsointernationally. AVC has the largest Goan diaspora clubs across Dubai, Kuwait,London, Canada, California and Saudi Arabia. The people of Velim have neverforgotten their roots,” stated member secretary of Goa State Pollution ControlBoard Member Secretary, Lavinson Martins.
Martins points out that Velim has produced two Olympians inVeece and Leander Paes who were brought up in the tiny quite village of Velim.But slowly, as educational facilities, infrastructure and supply of water andelectricity did not improved in the village, people began to move out to thecities for better opportunities.
“People moved out of Velim for better opportunities, morefor their children in terms of education while a few migrated. But in Velim,people are not of the kind that sold off their land. People in Velim still comeback on the weekends and have renovated their old Portuguese homes,” assertedFrancis Braz, a Velim based entrepreneur who now lives in Margao.
Similarly Simon Barreto, who moved from Velim to Margao tobegin a cold storage unit almost two decades back points that Velim was a quitedead village with no entertainment and social events for the women folkespecially, a reason why people left their land.
“I blame the people then. Everybody was so laid back afterliberation. I remember in my two stints as Sarpanch, there would be just twelvepeople at a gram sabha meeting in the 1985-1990. There were electricity andwater problems, so people chose the easy way out and left the village,” pointsout noted lawyer Savio Caeiro.
Advocate Caeiro points out that Velim is very significantconsidering its proximity to Cabo de Rama, which was once a major port andBetul that has its importance because of the fishing jetty. But theinfrastructure, transport facility and lack of educational institutions leftVelim behind despite having learned individuals like Ferdinand Rebello, MarioVaz, Roque Satan, Filipe Neri Rodrigues and Farrel Furtado as past MLAs.
The newly elected MLA, Benjamin D’Silva, pointed out thatVelim’s biggest problem has been the erratic water supply, bad supply ofelectricity and BSNL’s poor connectivity, topped by no job opportunities as alarge population of Velim depends on agriculture.
“I have now got two junior engineers dedicated to Velim onlyto improve electrical supply, besides drawing a road map with the PWD and watersupply officials. Also, I have invited the tourism department to come and lookat how Velim’s Portuguese architecture homes can be tapped for tourism sinceour nearness to to Cabo de Rama, Betul and Cutbona jetty. Velim’s past MLAshave not bothered to improve infrastructure in the village,” asserted Benjamin.
“The biggest significance of nationalism in Velim comes fromits Carnival celebration where the National Flag is hoisted and a traditionallamp is lite (maide) on the mand (stage) and Velim alone across Goa keeps thistradition alive in the midst of all three days of the Carnival celebrationwhich is very patriotic,” stated Martins.
In the midst of migration and peole leaving Velim, PilotCosta, a velim resident remembers the great debates by Ferdinand Rebello, MarioVaz, Roque Satan and other great legislators who brought about great laws forthe state when they represented the Assembly. He only rues the fact that it wasonly in the 1990’s that Velim was delimited into a separate constituency fromCuncolim which have been done much earlier.
