From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji
Panaji, Apr 12: Desperately waiting for the water to irrigate their fields, hosting Indian Premier League (IPL) is the last in the minds of farmers at Thivim, who fear to lose their paddy fields to a huge Cricket stadium project by Goa Cricket Association (GCA).
Says farmer Uday Malwankar,``We don’t want IPL.. Give us water so that we can irrigate the fields and harvest the paddy.’’
The tale of farmers was narrated during Goa Bachao Abhiyaan (GBA) meeting held in city today. The farmers say that the government is trying to snatch away their lands against their wish and by offering paltry sum.
The village group was in Panaji today to attend the special meeting conveyed by Goa Bachao Abhiyaan, a non government organization (NGO), who will be meeting Goa Chief Minister Digamber Kamat next week with several of grievances, related to land misuse.
The cricket stadium is a part of Board of Cricket Control of India (BCCI) initiative to construct cricket infrastructure across the country. Goa cabinet has already given in principle approval for this project in March 2007.
“We have refused to part with our paddy fields. We have been fighting against the stadium project for almost half a decade now. The government had given up on the project but suddenly from out of blue, the project is reactivated,” Malwankar said.
The farmers who were offered a compensation of Rs five per sq metres rejected it recently, when they were called by district administration to sign a document. Total 1.30 lakh sq mts land is proposed to be acquired for this project.
“We are forced to keep our fields barren because there is no water. We used to cultivate them annually till few years back when there was no proper rain. We are now waiting for Tillari irrigation project to irrigating our fields,” Malwankar, who was present for the meeting along with other farmers, said.
“The issue is not just of paddy field. There is a huge forest area with rich flora and fauna in it. More than 5,000 trees are going to be felled for this project,” Savio D’Souza, a local activist, said.
“Of the total land, 43,000 sq mts is forest, 25,000 sq mts is paddy fields and 60,000 sq mts is orchard,” he said showing the map, which he had brought during the presentation by GBA.
The GBA convenor Sabina Martins said that since the proposed stadium falls in eco sensitive zone, the state government should conduct impact assessment study before going ahead with the project.
“This issue will be discussed with the chief minister when we will meet him on April 15,” she added.