-- Samir Umarye BICHOLIM: They sacrificed their village, houses, farms and heritage for a major irrigation project, but the 150- odd families have largely been treated as pariahs by two states for over a decade.
it is only when these families have staged public protests that the authorities have acceded to some of their key demands, as was the case a fortnight ago when the aggrieved families went on a hunger strike. Two hunger strikes and 13 years later, the benefits are slowly being passed down to the Tillari displaced families, but some families are yet to see the fruits of their sacrifices. This is the plight of about 150 families from Tillari, who gave up their land for the construction of Tillari irrigation project and accepted to settle on the Goa border in sal village. “ when the proposal to shift our entire village made news, we decided to accept the government’s proposal with a hope of a better future, rather than fight a losing battle. About 150 families were shifted from Tillari– Maharashtra to sal in 2002 and 204 plots were reserved for us,” ramesh Patil, secretary of Tillari dam Gram Vikas Committee, had earlier told herald. following an agreement between Maharashtra and Goa, the Maharashtra government was given a plot of land in sal. They were expected to develop the area and supply all amenities to the displaced residents, including a connecting road, before handing it over to the Goa government. But when the Tillari villagers began constructing houses on the allotted land at sal in 2002, the facilities were almost non- existent. The common facilities provided to them included a small room in the form of a ‘ samaj mandir’ ( hall) and some public toilets. The displaced residents soon found themselves struggling for other basic facilities. There is no proper road to their place of residence as most of the access is via a private property. in the absence of a road, the 108 ambulance and lPG van refuse to come to the area. residents are forced to carry patients and gas cylinders to the main road, nearly 1 km away. during the monsoon, the makeshift road gets submerged and children struggle to go to the nearby school. Proper access to their locality is only one part of the problem. The houses built by residents were not regularised and registered by the local panchayat for many years. it was only when residents staged a hunger strike in 2010 that the authorities decided to regularise some of the houses. As a result of their protest, 87 houses were given house numbers. After their efforts to get the remaining houses regularised failed over the next four years, residents staged another hunger strike on January 26, 2015. “ we were forced to stage a hunger strike as the Goa government had not yet done anything to fulfill our basic demands, including a connecting road to the nearby village,” said devidas naik, a displaced Tillari resident, speaking to herald during the strike. in a bid to prevent the issue from snowballing into a major agitation, the aggrieved residents were invited for talks with officials from the water resources department, Bdo and local authorities. it was then that the authorities assured to regularise 24 additional houses. satisfied with this promise, the residents withdrew their agitation the next day. despite the success of the second agitation by the displaced residents, there are about 10 families who are yet to get their houses regularised and are in the process of getting their documents ready. “ we have been assured that our applications will be sent to the Collector’s office, after which we will get residence certificates. The authorities also assured that we would be given house numbers and the Bdo has asked us to submit the files with required documents,” said naik. “ The files of about 24 houses are ready and they will be given house numbers. The irrigation department has also agreed to shift the canal so as to make way for a road to our area,” he added. TIMELINE 2001: Goa government issues a notification in the Official Gazette giving all rights to Tillari families. 2002: Tillari residents shifted and 204 plots allocated, but houses not registered. 2010: Tillari residents protest and stage hunger strike. 87 houses then given house numbers. 2015: Second hunger strike and government assures to regularise 24 houses. 2015: 10 houses yet to be regularised and given house numbers. u Some houses of Tillari displaced residents yet to be regularised. u No proper road as most of the access is via a private property. u In absence of a road, the 108 ambulance and LPG van refuse to come to the area. Locals forced to carry patients and gas cylinders to the main road, 1 km away. u During the monsoon, the road gets submerged and children struggle to go to the nearby school. Challenges confronting villagers We were forced to stage a hunger strike as the Goa government had not yet done anything to fulfill our basic demands, including a connecting road to the nearby village -- devidas naik, a displaced Tillari resident A file photo of the dilapidated public toilets constructed by the Maharashtra government in Sal.
