By Pradnya Gaonkar

Although the village of Terekhol does not have electricity once a week and suffers from water shortage, the government would rather concentrate its energy on paving the way for a golf course in the region.

A SMALL peaceful village, people engaged in the traditional methods of cashew juice extraction, toddy-tapping and farming. A factory project causes serious damage to the fields and people find it difficult to fight against the mighty political lobby that backed the monster factory project. While the villagers decide to appear unperturbed, a politician walks into the village asking the villagers to sell their land to him and evacuate the property. Several attempts were made in vain. Frustrated, he leaves. A few months later, a shrewd builder studies the village closely, claiming that he has solutions to all of their problems. This is done with the local landlord who claims ownership to the land according to the old rules and the power of attorney upon him, through his ancestors. He cleverly prepares a set of documents which withdraws the rights of the villagers to the property, to which they are heirs themselves through their own ancestors. Money is distributed, agreements are made, court dates are fixed and everything is settled for a cheap price. The villagers belatedly realise that the builders set a trap and have insidiously acquired almost 25% of the village.

It makes for an interesting plot for a Bollywood film, a la Well Done Abba. But this story can’t be attributed to a scriptwriter because it is directly narrated by the villagers of Terekhol, where they fear that they will soon be evicted from their ancestral land, which is to be replaced by a golf course. The plans have already been executed at all levels. The government has already approved the project and the golf course appears in the proposed Draft Regional Plan 2021.

EXTREME CONDITIONS

TEREKHOL village, near the Maharashtra border, covers an area of around 14 lakh sq ms with 70-80 houses, having a total population of 275. The area is inhabited mainly by the Christian community involved in agriculture and cashew plantation. Terekhol has been facing extreme conditions, especially during the peak of summer when the taps go dry. Every Monday, there is no electricity because the power from this small village is being borrowed from the Maharashtra government. In addition, the presence of Tata Metaliks Ltd Steel Power Plant has been polluting the cashew plantation with dust, leading to major losses in the cashew, coconut and paddy production.

A considerable amount of builders have been eyeing the land, considering its reputation as a tourist attraction and its historical monuments like the Terekhol Fort. The developments for the plan started in 2007 when NCP leader Dr Wilfred D’Souza tried to persuade villagers to give up their land. The locals in Terekhol sensed a hidden agenda and refused to give away their plots. Later, Sandip Ganguli, who represented M/s Leading Hotels Private Limited from New Delhi, visited the place. Village elders recall that he managed to lure a few youngsters from the village, giving him room to push his way into the village. Ryan Semelhago, Ganguli’s local right-hand man, accompanied him during his trips to the village. The target was to acquire an area of 12,50,000 sq ms of land under survey numbers 2-16. This property is by the Tiracol River on the east with Possocol and Concalem villages to the west. On the south lies the high sea. Before coming to the village, Ganguli caught hold of Kashinath Khalap, who is one of the 50 co-owners of the property. Ganguli managed to buy the land valued at Rs. 2,25,08,350, according to the sale deed presented on October 26, 2007.

“It is indeed surprising that suddenly there have been a large number of land purchases and the people are denying their rights to the property in question. Surprisingly, none of the authorities have questioned this. Many people have said that the survey numbers have appeared in their name by mistake. One could understand if there were a couple of mistakes, but how can one explain a mistake on the part of almost half the population of the village?” questions a villager who wishes to remain anonymous, being one of the many who fell prey to the shrewd builder, and fears that the builder might take the legal matter pending in court, to another level. The villagers say that the modus operandi followed by the builder was to force them to surrender, saying that they their tenancy rights were accidental. It was also stated that the land was left uncultivated for the last 40 years.

EXTREMES

THE builder went to the extent of locating the heirs who reside outside Goa. The land was bought from the locals at rates ranging from Rs.100 to Rs.200. What is even more important is that the builder has left the locals without a single document. The three documents - power of attorney, a Memorandum of Understanding and an affidavit - have been signed and handed over to the builder. As soon as the builder takes charge of the documents, the tenant has to appear at the collector’s office to officially declare that he has no rights on the property and the case is closed in a month. Even the mundkari houses are being evicted.

“After luring the bhatkar, the tenants are the only obstacle to the buyer. The dealer visited every house with three sets of documents which laid the groundwork. He has managed to acquire almost 25 percent of the village. If the rest are lured into a similar fate, this will lay the foundation for a golf course,” says Francis Rodrigues, a local resident who has been leading a brigade of Terekhol residents trying to save their land. Francis and some of the villagers tried to trace the origin of the builder and the bhatkar.

Since Sandip Ganguli, who is the authorised signatory of M/s Leading Hotels Private Limited, intends to purchase a large part of the property, the villagers assumed that the company must be widely known. They used Google and found no reference to the company. It may also be noted that Sandip Ganguli was given authorisation by his company on January 29, 2007, the very same year he targeted Goa. One wonders whether authorisation was given to him merely to acquire the property.

‘Tiracol’ is described in the Land Registration Office of Bardez as under No 972 of the Book Old 7, as mentioned in the sale deed, of which Kashinath Khalap claims to be one of the co-owners. The villagers rushed to the Archaeological Department to find that the No 972 cannot be traced in the Book Old 7 and is not found in old copies of Book 7 either. No 972 appears in Bicholim Book No 11 (new). “Another thing worth mentioning is that most of the legal property documents were done as Aforamento which finds reference in the Communidade laws. In that case, if the land owned by the Khalaps belongs to the Communidade, then it cannot be sold,” informs Francis Rodrigues. He also said that when Ganguli was told about the Communidade aspect of land rights he was unperturbed. Ganguli promptly said that if there were any illegalities, then it is the bhatkar who has to lose and not him.

Chief Minister Digamber Kamat is also in favour of the golf course and a port, which he is strongly pushing for and has already been highlighted in the proposed Draft Regional Plan 2021. Recently, during the protest organised by GBA, which met the Chief Minister and questioned the status of the Draft Regional Plan 2021, Francis raised the golf course issue. After the meeting, Kamat very politely asked Francis to meet him later to discuss the issue. That was enough of a hint at plans to bring in the building lobby. “We have been having major water problems and the steel industry has been polluting our agricultural land. Where is the water to sustain a golf course? Are they going to dig into the water table and dry it up? Only the bold and the beautiful use golf courses. If the caddy sneezes, they fire him. The locals might only get caddy jobs, but the million dollar question is; how are they going to get rid of the dust pollution which we have been facing for years now?” asks a villager. Will the government think about helping the village or help sustain a golf course?