The people likely to be affected by land Acquisition for Tilamol Cortali Road widening on Friday 30th July 2010 submitted a memorandum to the Dy-Collector Quepem opposing the acquisition of land to make the road 4 lane from Tilamol to Curchorem and from Curchorem to Sanguem Court.
It may be recalled that on 22/6/2010 government issued a notification for widening of Tilamol Sanguem road , that since then people are opposing the road widening of the road by conducting corner meetings abd by filling objection. That on Friday morning around 200 affected villagers of Tilamol, Cacora, Curchorem, Bansai, Cacumordi and other villagers gathered at the office of the Dy-Collector Quepem and later submitted a joint memorandum to the Dy-Collector demanding to withdraw the notification for land acquisition.
The memorandum stated the PWD before proposing to make the Tilamol Sanguem court road a four lane one no traffic survey has been done, as the existing road which has the capacity of 150 vehicles per hours is sufficient for another 15 years as the present traffic flow on the road is just 30 to 50 vehicles per hour.
The memorandum further states that under the garb of public cause the government is planning to widen the road for the benefit of the mining industry by spending 500 cr. Of public fund which is illegal and unjust.
That Curchorem is 5th most populated municipality of Goa with a population of 30,000. Kakoda health center and other two major hospital namely Dr. Sonu Kamat and Dr. Satish Kudchadkar are right on the road. Twelve schools with 6000 secondary and 3000 primary student commute on this road. No where in the world dirty cargo like iron or is hauled through the heart of such a town, not even in Bihar and Jharkand states that memorandum further.
That due to the acquisition immense losses will be cause to the houses, shops, compounds, trees, Crosses, Tulsi-Vrindavans and parking spaces will be affected. That agricultural land being acquired are tenanted and are under Command Area Development Authority , such land cannot be acquired. Mining transport is already affecting the public health, sanitation agriculture and horticulture widening the road to make way for 4 lane will aggravate the problems states the memorandum further.
That as the local self government namely the Xeldem panchayat and the Curchorem Cacora Municipal Council disapproved the widening project, the administrative approval for the road widening is illegal in view of 73rd and 74th amendment to the constitution.
That as the last date for filing the objection ends on 6th of August the affected villagers sought extension of time by another 15 days to file objection.
The Dy-Collector Agnelo Fernandes assured the villagers to look into matter and to do the needful.
John Fernandes
Showing posts with label Curchorem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Curchorem. Show all posts
Saturday, July 31, 2010
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Agitation against Curchorem road widening hotting up
Around 300 residents of Kakumoddi turned up on Wednesday 07 July 2010 at the local chapel to oppose the proposed four lane road from Tilamol to Curchorem. This was the third such gathering in the Curchorem constituency in the last four days.
Addressing the gathering Babajan Fernandes stated that as per the calculation done by him presently the traffic on the road is only 30 vehicles per hour compared to the road capacity of 150 trips per hour. He wondered for whose gains the government is doing the road widening by spending crores of public money.
Namdev Naik said that the Curchorem politicians who are also mining transport contractors do not want by-pass because after the dedicated mining road comes up, the mine owners would stop giving contracts and commissions to them. They want transport to continue through populated areas, so that they can arm-twist mine owners and extract money.
Agust Barreto said that locals must fight the evil unitedly. He said that PWD has not done traffic survey before finalizing the widening. Tempers ran high as speakers narrated the bluffs of the local politicians. Advocate Atrey Kakodkar explained the legal recourses available to the aggrieved people. Santan Olivera said that widening means more mining traffic and pollution leading to immense hardships to locals. He appealed to the people to keep politics and religion aside and join the agitation en-masse.
Rajendra Kakodkar said that when Curchorem Municipality as well as Xeldem Panchyat have passed resolutions disapproving the widening, how can government force it on the people? he questioned.
Maruti Naik, the Chairperson of Curchorem Cacora Municipal council, who was invited for the meeting, assured the gathering that he and the Municipality will be with the people in the fight and would do whatever required to get the land acquisition de-notified. Mafaldo Fernandes said that government has confirmed that agricultural output has reduced due to mining menace. He added that paddy reduced 20 percent, cashew and mangoes reduced by over 50 percent. Socorinha said that an office for co-ordination will be set up at Bansai. People who are not aware can get information and help here.
It may be recalled that despite several assurances by the chief minister to build separate roads for mining, the people of Curchorem constituency were shocked to see notification in media on 2nd July for acquisition of land for four lane road from Tilamol to Curchorem. The acquisition entails demolishing several houses, compounds, paddy fields and shops. The reduced area of plots will lead to lower FAR at the time of building new structure after present structure becomes old. Many plots would become un-usable due to requirement of set-off. The present market rate in the area is Rs 3000 to 5000 per sqm, whereas the government will snatch it at peanuts for the benefit of the miners. The road passes through the centre of a thickly populated area of Cacora-Curchorem Municipality , where over 15,000 people reside.
In addition there are another 15,000 people staying in the areas of Tilamol, Sirvoi, Sonfator, Chinchnagar, Tanki, Xeldem, Kakumoddi, Hodar, Sanvordem, Cotarli, where air-borne dust flies due to wind. The road widening and allowing mining traffic is a nuisance to these 30,000 people.
The chief minister in April 2010, after the death of Satish Rivankar, had identified twelve mine owners, who transport ore on this road and had put traffic restrictions on them and had allowed aggregate 120 trips per hour. The chief minister had also assured separate road for the benefit of these mine owners. Earlier, around 500 affected people had come together on Sunday at Bansai and vowed to defeat the covert designs of politicians.
Similarly, over 200 aggrieved people of Sonfator area met on Monday to oppose the four lane road. In the Bansai meeting, Ashish Karmali said, “We prefer no road compared to four lane road. See, how nice the road is when there are no mining trucks”. Paresh Bhende volunteered to file a PIL in the high court against the acquisition. Advocate Mahesh Kudchadkar decried the houses getting raised solely for the benefit of mining transport.
John Fernandes
Addressing the gathering Babajan Fernandes stated that as per the calculation done by him presently the traffic on the road is only 30 vehicles per hour compared to the road capacity of 150 trips per hour. He wondered for whose gains the government is doing the road widening by spending crores of public money.
Namdev Naik said that the Curchorem politicians who are also mining transport contractors do not want by-pass because after the dedicated mining road comes up, the mine owners would stop giving contracts and commissions to them. They want transport to continue through populated areas, so that they can arm-twist mine owners and extract money.
Agust Barreto said that locals must fight the evil unitedly. He said that PWD has not done traffic survey before finalizing the widening. Tempers ran high as speakers narrated the bluffs of the local politicians. Advocate Atrey Kakodkar explained the legal recourses available to the aggrieved people. Santan Olivera said that widening means more mining traffic and pollution leading to immense hardships to locals. He appealed to the people to keep politics and religion aside and join the agitation en-masse.
Rajendra Kakodkar said that when Curchorem Municipality as well as Xeldem Panchyat have passed resolutions disapproving the widening, how can government force it on the people? he questioned.
Maruti Naik, the Chairperson of Curchorem Cacora Municipal council, who was invited for the meeting, assured the gathering that he and the Municipality will be with the people in the fight and would do whatever required to get the land acquisition de-notified. Mafaldo Fernandes said that government has confirmed that agricultural output has reduced due to mining menace. He added that paddy reduced 20 percent, cashew and mangoes reduced by over 50 percent. Socorinha said that an office for co-ordination will be set up at Bansai. People who are not aware can get information and help here.
It may be recalled that despite several assurances by the chief minister to build separate roads for mining, the people of Curchorem constituency were shocked to see notification in media on 2nd July for acquisition of land for four lane road from Tilamol to Curchorem. The acquisition entails demolishing several houses, compounds, paddy fields and shops. The reduced area of plots will lead to lower FAR at the time of building new structure after present structure becomes old. Many plots would become un-usable due to requirement of set-off. The present market rate in the area is Rs 3000 to 5000 per sqm, whereas the government will snatch it at peanuts for the benefit of the miners. The road passes through the centre of a thickly populated area of Cacora-Curchorem Municipality , where over 15,000 people reside.
In addition there are another 15,000 people staying in the areas of Tilamol, Sirvoi, Sonfator, Chinchnagar, Tanki, Xeldem, Kakumoddi, Hodar, Sanvordem, Cotarli, where air-borne dust flies due to wind. The road widening and allowing mining traffic is a nuisance to these 30,000 people.
The chief minister in April 2010, after the death of Satish Rivankar, had identified twelve mine owners, who transport ore on this road and had put traffic restrictions on them and had allowed aggregate 120 trips per hour. The chief minister had also assured separate road for the benefit of these mine owners. Earlier, around 500 affected people had come together on Sunday at Bansai and vowed to defeat the covert designs of politicians.
Similarly, over 200 aggrieved people of Sonfator area met on Monday to oppose the four lane road. In the Bansai meeting, Ashish Karmali said, “We prefer no road compared to four lane road. See, how nice the road is when there are no mining trucks”. Paresh Bhende volunteered to file a PIL in the high court against the acquisition. Advocate Mahesh Kudchadkar decried the houses getting raised solely for the benefit of mining transport.
John Fernandes
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tilamol, Curchorem gear up to oppose land aquisition for mining road
The villagers of Tilamol, Cacora, Curchorem and Bansai are gearing up to oppose the proposed acquisition of land for the road widening road from Tilamol to Curchorem. The government has on Saturday 1st of July issued a notification under section 4 of land acquisition act to acquire land to make the road from Tilamol to Curchroem a four lane for the benefit of mining tranport . The Dy-Collector of Quepem Shri Agnel Fernandes has been appointed as the land acquisition officer
The villager on Sunday 5th July had a meeting at Bansai near the cross to oppose the land acquisition and to make the people aware about its effect on the people residing on the side of the road. The villagers were came under the banner Ganv Rakhonn Jagrut Manch which was attended by over 500 villagers. Addressing the gathering Mr. Babu Prabhu Dessai stated if the road is for the benefit of the local people then the people will demolish their houses themselves but if the proposed acquisition is for the benefit of the mining lobby then they will not allow the acquisition.
The plan showing the land to be acquired for the widening the road is drawn on an survey plan which was not being updated for years and if the physical survey of the same is carried out then several houses will be demolished to make way for the road widening. Adv. Mahesh Kakodkar explained the gathered crowd the details about the proposed road widening and questioned the Government intensions in this process. He further said that the present road is enough for the normal traffic and the widening is not required by demolishing the houses of hundred people for no proper reason unless the Government has some hidden motive behind this move.
Mr. Christanand Pednekar said that recently there are numerous accidents on this road due to mining transport and if this widening becomes a reality then people will have to walk with their coffin in their hands expecting death any moment. He further said that a four lane road is not required for the normal traffic as the present road is adequate. He called on to the people to oppose this proposed road widening with all their might.
Mrs. Soccorina Goes said that people have been asking for a by-pass road for so long dedicated to mining activity which all authorities had promised but now it is evident that they were fooling the public. She said that she is confident that this widening is done to enable the mining lobby to transport the ore and not with the interest of the people. She warned that people will not take this step lying down but will agitate with all their might to stop this double intentional move of the Government.
Mr. Mafaldo Fernandes said that The Govt. should forget about the widening of the road like a bad dream and take up the work of the by-pass road if they want peace in the region and that they will never let the mining lobby succeed in this move of road widening.
Others who addressed the meeting includes Mr. Vinod Velgaonkar, Curchorem BJP president Mr. Pradeep Naik , Rajendra Kakodkar .
The villagers have decided to meet the Deputy Collector of Quepem Mr. Agnelo Fernandes who is appointed as acquisition officer and submit their grievances. They also decided to meet the Chief Minister over the issue. The villagers also decided that their demands are not met by the elected representatives then they decided to knock the doors of the court.
John Fernandes
The villager on Sunday 5th July had a meeting at Bansai near the cross to oppose the land acquisition and to make the people aware about its effect on the people residing on the side of the road. The villagers were came under the banner Ganv Rakhonn Jagrut Manch which was attended by over 500 villagers. Addressing the gathering Mr. Babu Prabhu Dessai stated if the road is for the benefit of the local people then the people will demolish their houses themselves but if the proposed acquisition is for the benefit of the mining lobby then they will not allow the acquisition.
The plan showing the land to be acquired for the widening the road is drawn on an survey plan which was not being updated for years and if the physical survey of the same is carried out then several houses will be demolished to make way for the road widening. Adv. Mahesh Kakodkar explained the gathered crowd the details about the proposed road widening and questioned the Government intensions in this process. He further said that the present road is enough for the normal traffic and the widening is not required by demolishing the houses of hundred people for no proper reason unless the Government has some hidden motive behind this move.
Mr. Christanand Pednekar said that recently there are numerous accidents on this road due to mining transport and if this widening becomes a reality then people will have to walk with their coffin in their hands expecting death any moment. He further said that a four lane road is not required for the normal traffic as the present road is adequate. He called on to the people to oppose this proposed road widening with all their might.
Mrs. Soccorina Goes said that people have been asking for a by-pass road for so long dedicated to mining activity which all authorities had promised but now it is evident that they were fooling the public. She said that she is confident that this widening is done to enable the mining lobby to transport the ore and not with the interest of the people. She warned that people will not take this step lying down but will agitate with all their might to stop this double intentional move of the Government.
Mr. Mafaldo Fernandes said that The Govt. should forget about the widening of the road like a bad dream and take up the work of the by-pass road if they want peace in the region and that they will never let the mining lobby succeed in this move of road widening.
Others who addressed the meeting includes Mr. Vinod Velgaonkar, Curchorem BJP president Mr. Pradeep Naik , Rajendra Kakodkar .
The villagers have decided to meet the Deputy Collector of Quepem Mr. Agnelo Fernandes who is appointed as acquisition officer and submit their grievances. They also decided to meet the Chief Minister over the issue. The villagers also decided that their demands are not met by the elected representatives then they decided to knock the doors of the court.
John Fernandes
Monday, April 5, 2010
Growth mania: Goodbye Satish Rivonkar, vice-president, Guardian Angel High School, Curchorem
Education in Goa suffered cruel jolt after Satish Rivonkar, vice-president was sacrificed at the alter of mining industry to fuel further the growth mania. In pictures his body is trapped under the tyre of mining truck just the exactly same way entire Goa is trapped under Growth model of development with large population of Goa is its sacrifice. There is an urgent need to dismantle the growth trap. Building separate highways or exclusive roads for mining is only getting further trapped into growth mania. There are some people who wants to do away with suffering of people by launching mission bye-pass to demand for new roads through forests and villages. These views can be expressed only by agents of growth trap who are themselves trapped in under the wheels of mining industry to fuel growth of China, Japan and Europe. The way people of Sanvordem and Curchorem were mobilized by mining industry into 'People's Movement' in second week of February 2010 can at best be termed 'mission suicide'. Continuation of mining in Goa means taking Goa towards suicide with export of every truck of ore that is transported through barges via Zuari and Mandovi rivers that is further loaded in huge foreign vessels in the Arabian Sea few miles away from from Marmagao Port Trust. From Airoplane this phenomena resembles vultures feasting on death of Goa. The exclusive roads for mining is not a solution for growth trap, total stoppage of mining is the solution. My deep support to the family of Satish Rivonkar, to the Students of Guardian Angel High School, Curchorem and to the People of Curchorem and Sanvordem. It is time to apply breaks and dismantle growth mania. Mining must stop. New mining roads plans must be canceled. Its time for de-growth. Its time to move out of rat race of economy. Its time to ponder deeply...
Sebastian Rodrigues
Here we reproduce the pictures and text by John Fernandes of what happened on last Tuesday, 30 march 2010 in Tilamol, Quepem.
In a horrifying motor Vehicular accident that shocked entire Quepem involving mining truck one Satish Rivonkar (44) of Tilamol, Quepem and a Vice president of Guardian Angel high school, Curchorem died on the spot on Tuesday 30 March 2010.
The accident which took place at around 12.40 pm involving three vehicles namely a Pulsor Motorcycle bearing Reg. No.GA-09-C-4400, a Tata tipper truck bearing Reg. No.GA-01-W5461 and GA-09-U- 2045 was so severe that the truck bearing registration No,GA-01-w-5461 after the impact dragged the deceased who was traveling on his Pulsor Motorcycle at a distance of 15 mts. His body was smashed into pieces.
After the accident the public blocked the entire Tilamol Curchorem road. However the police diverted the traffic via Xeldem.
The deceased has left behind a widow and a five years old daughter.
Sources informed that soon after the accident police arrived at the spot and try to hide out the body by covering a tarpaulin and try to remove the same which was lying under the wheel of the truck but the agitators did not allowed to remove the same. The body which was crushed under the wheel at around 12.40 pm was not allowed by the public till the South Goa Collector G.P. Naik made his presence at the spot and give a assurance that hence forth mining transport will not be allowed to operate via Tilamol road. At around 4.30 pm Collector G.P. Naik along with S.P. South Allan D’Sa, Dy-Collector Quepem Agnel Fernandes appeared at the spot.
Meanwhile in order to avoid any law and order situation a strong police force from Quepem, Curchorem, Maina Curtorim headed by P.I. Sidhant Shirodkar , Margao police headed by P.I. Santosh Dessai and two buses of Reserve police force with heavy guns were stationed at a site along with Dy-SP Quepem Rohidas Patre , Dy-SP. Margao Umesh Gaonkar, Quepem Executive Magistrate Sudin Nato.
As soon as Collector G.P. Naik appeared at the site there was a heavy argument between the collector and the agitators. The agitators blamed the entire administration for the accident. The agitators were not in a mood to allow the body to be removed till they get an assurance of permanent stoppage of mining transport via Tilamol. It was only when Collector G.P. Naik orally assured the agitators that he will pass a temporary order. After which the body was allowed to remove.
After removing the body lying under the wheel, without the knowledge of the agitators the police took away the truck involved in the accident which angered the agitators. They demanded issuance of challen to all mining truck which were overloaded. Hearing the news that the agitators are demanding issuance of challen the truck which were parked from Tilamol church to Sanfator with the assistance of police and without the knowledge of the agitators took a reveres and seen parked in a hiding place on the irrigation Canal at Sirvoi.
At around 7.00 pm the Quepem Executive Magistrate Sudin Nato served a notification issued by the Collector G.P. Naik prohibiting mining truck from 31st march to 4th April which was not acceptable to the agitators who demanded a permanent ban on mining transport and continued their agitation till filling of this report.
The agitators claimed that the notification issued by the Collector G.P. Naik who is a agent of mining company is farce and an eye wash as all the three days on which the collector prohibited mining transport is a holiday for mining on account maruti guard Zatra and on account of good Friday.
Quepem P.I. Sudesh Narvekar is investigating the matter.
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