It’s shocking to see how the rules are being blatantly broken to accommodate the Real Estate Lobby day in and day out in each and every village in Goa.
The Goa Government, their henchmen in the Town and Country Planning along with the Goa Police all are working in tandem to protect the interests of the Real Estate and Mining Lobbies and are all out to destroy Goa in order to benefit from the kick-backs and huge doles that they receive. Every single Housing project has the blessings of their God-fathers among our politicians and that is why the Goa Government is all out to protect the interests of these Real Estate and Mining Lobbies whether it means the destruction of our Goan villages, forests, fields and our Goan way of life. How can these housing projects be approved without a proper 10 metre wide access road? Whether it’s Carmona, Colva, Chicalim, Cortalim or Cansaulim we see the same rules broken day in and day out. Our Goan villages are under direct attack from the Goa Government and their stooges within the Panchayat, Town and Country Planning. How could the Raheja Project in Carmona be approved on the basis of a note from Churchill Alemao stating that he is authorising a 10-metre wide access road. So the Goan villagers of Carmona will see their century old houses demolished and sacrificed in order to make way for Churchill’s 10 metre road to benefit and legalise Raheja’s upcoming project? Isn’t this the gross misuse of the powers by our politicians that we see day in and day out? This is the story in every village in Goa today. Take the case of the DLF Project in Dabolim which is in the news. Likewise in the village of Cansaulim, The Gonsalves-Dias Gates project in the heart of the village is being promoted as a 70-flats gated community with swimming pools and club houses and the works by a certain Aboobaker Sheikh in connivance with the blessings of the Politician Mauvin Godinho and the Sarpanch Jose Manuel Fernandes. Where is the 10 meter road access for a project of this size? Projects such as these that are being passed illegally by the TCP in connivance with our Ministers that go against the wishes of the villagers will forever changes the landscape, social fabric, way of life and the Environment in our Goan villages and cause irreversible damage to Goa. The hardwork that our fore-fathers put in to make our villages what they are and the blessings that nature has bestowed will forever be destroyed through real estate projects such as these. The horror stories that we see everyday where basic amenities like potable water, electricity, garbage disposal facilities, access roads are not available to our Goan villages yet the Real Estate Lobbies are getting all sorts of projects passed is to say the least just shocking. To add more salt to our wounds we saw how our Goan villagers who stand up to protest against these illegal activities are being harassed, targeted and even beaten up! The recent Blueberry Hill meeting where our Goan villagers who approached the Secretariat in Porvorim to voice their grievances were not given a proper hearing but had the police turned on them is just the beginning and an indication for what’s in stow for Goans. The message evidently is that the Goa Government just doesn’t care anymore! This is what's happening nowadays in Goa everywhere - Goan villagers standing up to illegalities being intimitated and harassed. It’s shocking to see the gross arrogance and blatant misuse of powers by the Goa Government, the Town and Country Planning, the Panchayats who are all out to fill in their own pockets by going against the wishes of the Goan people and destroying Goa. Our Chief Minister Digambar Kamat announces that his ‘Flying Squad” will be set in in motion starting May 24th and the number to call 1077 will be activated then to report illegal construction activities. It’s amazing how the Chief Minister is all mere lip-service and grunts and has mastered the art of double-speak and fool us by portraying himself as the Superman to the rescue but does nothing more but further the damage being done to Goa behind the scenes. Of what use would this Flying Squad be if we have to report all the misdeeds that are being pushed through at his own behest and that of the Ministers in his own Government? This is just a mere band-aid when what is required is some major surgery to root out the evil that we see in Goa today.This flying squad business is nothing but a big joke on the part of Digambar Kamat. He makes a mockery of the Goan people. Now does our Goa Government even care for the wishes of the Goan people? The answer is very clear they don’t! Posted below is the Article from the Herald on the Raheja’s Housing Project in Carmona. ****************************************************************** Carmona housing project gets provisional NOC from TCP HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, MAY 18 Activists fighting a battle against the housing project of K Raheja Universal in Carmona village have claimed that the Mumbai-based real estate developer had managed to obtain a provisional NOC from the Town and Country Planning department based on a note from PWD Minister, Churchill Alemao on the 10-meter wide access road to the property and letter from the Carmona village Panchayat. Information obtained by the activists led by Carmona Panch member Orlando D’Silva under the Right to Information Act revealed that the PWD Minister on November 30, 2009 had issued a note directing to immediately take up land acquisition for widening of the road to a width of 10 meters as the residents of the locality were facing hardships due to inadequate motorable access to reach their destination, especially during monsoon. D’silva said the TCP issued a provisional NOC to Raheja’s for the proposed sub-division of the property in Carmona village, but lamented that neither the PWD has till date commenced the land acquisition process nor the road width is widened to 10 meters as is required under the rules. The Panch member apprehended that if the PWD goes ahead with the plan to acquire land in order to widen the road to 10 meters, then the exercise may result in demolition of compound walls and take away the setback area of the households. Incidentally, Town Planner Rajesh Naik, while issuing the provisional NOC to Rajeha’s, has clearly stated that the NOC has been issued based on a circular issue by the Chief Town Planer dated July 3, 2009 and the Direction issued to the PWD regarding widening of the 10 meter access road. The provisional NOC was also issued based on the resolutions adopted by the Panchayat body and the letter of the village Panchayat of Carmona. D’silva and other activists had been fighting a battle against the Mumbai-based company on grounds that the existing access road to the property is hardly 5-6 meters as against the 10-meter proposed road.
