BY PRADNYA GAONKAR

Illegal construction activity in the ‘heritage’ village of Assagao came to the forefront when a member of the panchayat claimed that a bungalow in the village belonged to Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

WHAT WAS supposed to be a regular meeting of the Assagao gram sabha turned into media fodder when panch member Ajit Sawant inadvertently revealed that the bungalow in which the construction of a swimming pool was granted - and being protested by villagers - belonged to Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. The local and national media pounced on the story and Sawant’s comment has been recorded in newsprint. Now in the eye of the storm, Ajit Sawant - not surprisingly - deines ever having said the bungalow belonged to Hooda.

“The reports are baseless. I did not mention anybody’s name with regard to the bungalow,” claims Sawant. He defiantly asks anyone to prove he said it: “You can check the minute book of the gram sabha meeting. Nothing has been mentioned about me saying anything about the bungalow.” Considering the panchas-secretary nexus in every village panchayat, it does not come as any real surprise that the minutes of the meeting recorded by Assagao Village Panchayat (VP) secretary Subhash Kambli do not mention a debate over swimming pools in the village on that particular day, leave alone Hooda. This has raised doubts over the credibility of the secretary, who is supposed to note the proceedings of meetings in detail. It is even more suspicious that he failed to record a discussion on an issue and comment which has been recorded in almost every newspaper in the state.

SUBVERSION

KAMBLI’S failure to record such an important detail, coupled with Sawant’s vehement denials are being seen as attempts by panchayat officials to safeguard the influential. Villagers blame the local governing body’s partisan attitude for the destruction of the serene beauty and peace of Assagao by high profile builders and developers of building complexes. “The serene beauty of the Assagao village is at stake. Garbage generated during construction activity is dumped all over. The entire village is facing water shortage and a garbage crisis. Why do the residents of these villas and duplex bungalows need swimming pools anyway, when the sea is just a few minutes away from the village,” aggrieves Lourdes Sudhir, member of the local Regional Plan committee.

Villagers have complained of an acute water shortage, but this has not prevented the Assagao VP from granting permission to large scale constructions — along with swimming pools, in spite of earlier opposition to the same. On January 14, 2007 a gram sabha resolution was passed and redrafted on July 1, 2007 stating that no license should be given for construction of swimming pools and bore wells. It was noted that till the above date only three licenses were given for swimming pools by the panchayat and others were illegal. It was then decided that the ongoing works of digging bore wells should be stopped immediately and permission would not be granted to building complexes, villas, row bungalows, etc since Assagao doesn’t have the civic infrastructure. While successive sarpanchas point fingers at each other, details on the building permissions register obtained under Right to Information Act rubbish their false claims.

Victor D’Souza was the sarpanch of Assagao when the resolution against swimming pools was passed. Although he denies permitting swimming pools and building complexes in the village, the Building Permissions Register reveals some alarming facts. From January 2004 till the day the resolution was passed 11 builders were granted permission by the Assagao VP to build bungalows and villas with swimming pools. Villagers point out that there are 15 swimming pools in the vicinity, some of them built without the permission of the panchayat. Even though present sarpanch Pradeep Naik claims that no permissions were granted during his tenure, it may be noted that one John Sequeira at ward no 3 was granted permission to build a residential complex with a swimming pool on July 3, 2009 - after Naik took over as sarpanch on November 26, 2008. The panchayat has also gone against the resolution passed by the panchayat on January 14, 2007 by granting permission for housing projects work since then.

RAMPANT CONSTRUCTION

THE growing construction activity accompanied with frequent power cuts, water shortage and garbage crisis has irked villagers. Questions raised at gram sabha meetings have not rendered any answers or action as panchas apparently seem indifferent to their people’s woes. The issue of the bungalow suspected to be Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s was raised at the recent gram sabha when a villager raised the issue of a bungalow being constructed at an isolated spot in the dense orchard area. The construction work is being carried out in survey numbers 118/21 and 22 in two plots in Mazalvaddo.

He further added that space has been allocated in front of the bungalow — just enough for a swimming pool. The gram sabha members sought to know whether the permission for swimming pool and conversion sanad was issued to Satori Infrastructure Private Limited, which had undertaken the construction work. Reportedly, one Major Surendra Hooda, who has provided a Mumbai address, is the director while his son and daughter have been listed as partners. The power of attorney has been given to a person identified only as Sharma. According to sources, Surendra Hooda was advisor to the Haryana CM in the earlier dispensation. Satori Infrastructure Private Limited purchased around 2050 hectares of land from Schleieher Lutec limited.

The construction attracted suspicion as it is located in an isolated area without proper access road and did not have a board displaying the license, construction, conversion, etc details. The gram sabha meeting took a dramatic turn when Ajit Sawant stepped in and informed the gram sabha that the bungalow belonged to the chief minister of Haryana. Sawant mistakenly believed the villagers would be overawed and back off when they found out the bungalow to someone ‘influential’. However, the villagers were further angered and asserted that public personalities could not be given preferential treatment. They demanded to know what action the VP would take. Despite the assurance that a stop work notice would be issued to the builders, the construction activity is still on and the sign board displays only the builder’s name and the survey numbers.

BUILDERS

AMONGST the big names that razed trees, cut the hills of Assagao and sought permission for swimming pools are Rommel Nishwan (builder of Casa Bonita villas), Amrik Lal, Vivek Rampal, Mangrove Developers Private Limited, Vision Enterprises, Expanse India, Buildcon Private Limited, Revena Charian, Larena Nazare, Micheal Dawas and Alba Sequeira. Casa Bonita’s builder Rommel Nishwan claims that the villas are ready and most of the buyers are non residential Goans. Casa Bonita villas are ground plus one bungalows built on survey number 112/5 at Socolwado, Assagao. Although Nishwan claims the villas are ready for occupancy, GO found labourers still working at the site. When asked about composting units, Nishwan said these need to be completed.

Even though the construction work is still on, the Assagao VP has issued an occupancy certificate to the builder. “We have gone through the necessary procedure prescribed by the local governing bodies. They have granted us the permission accordingly,” says Nishwan. He further added that there is no point obstructing villas which are nearing completion as builders like him have put in their hard earned money into the construction.

Interestingly, Devendra Sahani, relative of former governor Kidarnath Sahani, has built a bungalow in an isolated area atop a hill in orchard land of Assagao. Acron builders have encroached on a traditional pathway and built another road which inconveniences people. What is more surprising is that most of the communidade land has allegedly been sold to the building lobby. It may be recalled that the communidade of Assagao had entered into an agreement with the Forest Department in 1994 and 1995 for a period of 25 years wherein these Communidade lands, under the control of the government for afforestation, have been used for planting of trees. These lands are considered as reserved forests by the government. But most of these areas are identified as orchards which have grown into dense forests and need to be identified as forests. It is feared that the building lobby may encroach on the forest land.

On survey number 222/2-A, 10-A and 11, construction of four storied bungalows covering 6325 sq ms area is going on. According to the building permissions register, the project belongs to Amrik Lal but the sign board displayed outside the construction site does not mention the developers. The project extends to open fields which are not being cultivated. A bore well has been dug behind the site. Although no pipes are visible on top of the bore wells, electrical wires of a submissive pump were seen around the well. It is suspected that the water is being drawn for the construction activity going on in the vicinity of the bore well. The bore well lies in a low lying area. It is feared that, considering the water required for the construction activity, the water drawn from the bore wells will dry up the neighbouring wells, resulting in severe water crisis in the region.

GARBAGE

THE construction activity has not only led to a water shortage, but has also led to a spurt in garbage. Sarpanch Pradeep Naik, during a gram sabha, assured the gathering that the panchayat has identified a dumping ground to take care of the garbage. Vigilant villagers believe that the village panchayat is planning to dump the garbage in quarries near survey number 67 and 68. If these quarries are filled with garbage, it will create a greater menace during the monsoon. The quarries, which are famous among Goans across the state who throng the area for a monsoon swim, get full after the third shower of rains. If garbage is dumped here, it will overflow and find its way to nearby houses and fields leaving them uncultivable. The quarries are already being used to dump construction debris. The quarries, which can be aptly used for water harvesting, are now being turned into dumping grounds. So much so that the area has also been used to dump a dead body! The body of a woman murdered in Calangute was dumped in one of the quarries. Further, the communidade had suggested four sites to the VP, but successive sarpanchas had vetoed the other three sites located in Assagao because they fell in areas represented by them. “The garbage dumping site near Ganeshpuri in Mapusa has also been misused with garbage left untreated. When we already have one garbage dumping site, what is the need of another one? We need a treatment plant and not a dumping site,” asserts Lourdes Sudhir.

Trees are also being felled in the region to pave way for roads which are not being used. A road - atop a hill — near Mazalwado has been constructed, even though there are no houses in the vicinity. Yet, the VP has claimed it does not have funds to repair a dilapidated road connecting Assagao to Siolim.

RP STATUS

THE local committee set up to draft the Regional Plan 2021 had suggested that the taluka level technical team change the VP2 status granted to Assagao VP 3, with the corresponding change in the FAR to R4 because of its heritage structures, forest land and roads. But it is feared that these suggestions have not been conveyed to the authorities as no changes have been made in the draft Regional Plan 2021.

In circular No 15/77/DP/CIRC/2000/1644 dated September 24, 2007, the Directorate of Panchayats had warned panchayat bodies to take immediate steps to curb the menace of illegal constructions in their panchayat areas, as required under the provisions of the law and in strict compliance to instructions and directions. Failure to take action is supposed to amount to remiss in discharge of duties which “shall be taken serious note of for which he/she shall ultimately be liable for removal from office and also from the membership of the Panchayat under the provisions of section 50 of the Goa Panchayati Raj Act 1994.” It appears that village panchayats, including that of Assagao, have ignored these warnings and no action has been initiated against them. It’s time the entire village, and not just a handful of vigilant citizens, step forward and speak out against illegalities. Many times, villagers remain tight lipped as most of the fellow citizens are involved in illegalities in some way or the other. But it is time to realise that it is now or never before the intruders raze the forests and hills of our serene villages and the locals suffer at the cost of high profile personalities.