Nothing pisses me more than seeing Hindu politicians screwing Hindus. There is no hope.
Venantius J Pinto On Mon, Feb 9, 2015 at 5:55 AM, samir umarye <[email protected]> wrote: > -- > 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. > -- +++++++++++++ Venantius J Pinto
