http://www.oheraldo.in/news/Local%20News/Anti-Mopa-protestors-smell-a-rat-in-land-acquisition/46829.html Anti-Mopa protestors smell a rat in land acquisition
HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MARCH 27 With 266 sale deeds registered on nearly Rs 1500 crore worth land around the proposed Mopa airport in Pernem, the anti-Mopa airport protestors have smelt a rat. Sure enough, the residents claim that their land is being grabbed under the garb of airport project. Mopa Vimantall Piditt Xetrkari Samiti (MVPXS) on Sunday said that traditional inhabitants are driven out so that their land can be converted. “We are sure that building an airport is not their intention at all. The affected residents of Mopa and surrounding villages would be pushed into poverty as the Goa government is trying to grab our ancestral land. But we will not allow this to happen,” Samiti secretary Sandeep Kambli told reporters. The villagers said that families would be displaced and starve after being paid a meager amount for their priceless land. “We will not be able to buy piece of land anywhere else. The land prices are soaring in the state faster than anything else. The government does not care for its people and environment,” he said. The Samiti has warned the government to launch a massive ‘andolan’ for protecting their land, water, resources and agriculture, which are threatened by the airport project. They claim that the green field airport is of no use for the State and locals, in particular. Kambli quoted that more than 15,000 locals in Pernem are directly and indirectly dependent on agricultural produce - vast cashew plantation and other fruit bearing trees like coconuts, mango, chickoo and jackfruit. “The land in question are slopes around a small plateau which are thickly forested and having all the fruit bearing trees, unaccountable in crores will be cut to make way for the airport and IT parks, ice city, etc.” he stated. The villagers also pointed out that destruction of plantation and felling of trees would force the animals and birds to flee from their habitat. Mopa village is located in the Western Ghats, which has been declared as bio diversity hotspot. Kambli claimed that government has appointed a Mopa consultant without conducting any Environment Impact Assessment. Another supporter, Fr Bismark Fernandes, also chorused that construction of airport will affect entire Pernem taluka, as the land is situated on the plateau and all the water springs will dry up once the vegetation here is destroyed. The villagers have questioned as to how the government could give environmental clearance for the project in such ecologically sensitive spots. “International guidelines for Airports suggest that distance between two projects should not be less then 150 kms but Dabolim airport is approximately 40 kms from Mopa. Also, new airport is being planned at Chipi in Sindhudurg (Maharashtra) which is approximately 80 kms away from Mopa,” he said. -- Please post your comments on my Blog: http://goanidentity.blogspot.com/ Please also see below: 1. Benaulim Village Action Committee: http://www.bvacbenaulim.blogspot.com/ 2. "Rape of Goa" : http://www.parrikar.com/blog/the-rape-of-goa/ 3. MAND - an adivasi-rights resource centre : http://mandgoa.blogspot.com/ 4. EVERY GOAN SHOULD SEE THIS VIDEO: http://infochangeindia.org/Infochange-documentary.html 5. Goa's Identity Movement group on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com//#/group.php?gid=193497031686 6. Official Government Site NRI Office (GOA): http://www.globalgoans.org.in/
