GOA'S TENANTED FIELDS SPROUT ALL SORTS OF ODD CONSTRUCTIONS
By Frederick Noronha

PANJIM, March 8: Fields given to tenants supposedly to promote
'agrarian reforms' along the Panjim-Mapusa highway at Guirim and
elsewhere are being rampantly 'converted' and are sprouting
petrol stations, shrines, stadia, vehicle showrooms, thinly-
disguised 'farm houses', garages and even bars.

In many cases, land which was purchased for as little as eighteen
paise per metre is being sold to speculators and those powerful
enough to break the law, who are allegedly raking in millions.

This became apparent from a field survey of this fast-changing
area, conducted on Wednesday morning, even as land-filling
activity was going on at a hectic pace at some points.

Under the law, tenanted land cannot be sold or transfered for any
other purpose other than agriculture. But, by bending the law,
'horticulture' is being considered as 'agriculture', and some
permissions have been given for setting up 'farm houses'.

In some cases, the horticultural operations are genuine. But
other 'farm houses' have turned into palatial homes, with little
greenery, more concrete and many vehicles parked in the compound.

Stones could be seen lined up in some of the fields, giving a
hint of the concrete jungle set to come up in these areas. Some
'temporary sheds' were also seen put up, in an obvious effort to
build something more permanent in the area.

In one recent case, a plan to set up a petrol pump in the fields
off the highway was reportedly justified on grounds that the
fields were not being affected, but only the land below was being
worked on. Today, the fields are lying under mud.

Under the law, even after a transfer of tenanted land, the basic
character of the land has to be maintained. But this is being
regularly flouted, allegedly with the blessing of some political
personalities.

"Land was transferred to the tenants not for this purpose. It was
meant to be basically an agrarian reform," said one official
source, when approached about the problem. There were hints of
official helplessness in the face of blatant political
intererence, leading at times to illegal decisions going
unchallenged.

Due to the land-filling of the fields, neighbouring villagers
like those in Bastora have been complaining of worrying hill-
cutting in the region.

Recently, villagers of the area complained about dozens of trucks
blatantly cutting a hill in the area and transporting the mud
late at night.

There were some protests by the villagers against this too, it is
learnt. Villagers who spoke to this correspondent alleged that
some damage to their property had taken place due to the
incessant trips.

Coastal Bardez, and now the inland areas too, have been suffering
from the land speculation boom. This has allowed those well-
connected and the politically influential to make a fortune at
the cost of the environment, the process of law and agriculture.

There are provisions of the tenancy law disallowing changes in
the land-use. Despite this, some tenanted land was given even to
industrial units in regions like Bicholim.

Some time back, 'tenants' who benefited from the haphazard and
politically-motivated reforms of past MGP governments allegedly
took to resorting to the trick of "negative declarations" to gain
from land-speculation.

They would simply strike a deal with the landlord and the
builders, and claim that they were in fact "not tenants" of the
land concerned. This would allow the sale to take place easily.

"That was how so much of the property in Calangute could get
converted. Tenants were paid huge amounts just to say that they
were not tenants," an official from Bardez, speaking to this
journalist on condition of anonymity, admitted.

Another curious case is that of a prominent hotel in a village
just outside Calangute. In this case, the tenant had claimed a
huge cashew orchard under the deeming provision (the tenant is
deemed purchaser, and he can purchase the land for a paltry price
pegged at 1976 levels).

But the tenant made an application saying he was a 'heart
patient'. Hence, he said, he could not climb uphill to look after
the property that came his way.

This land was 'transferred' to a tourism company and a firm with
an agricultural-sounding name. Permission was taken for a farm-
house, and today there is a palatial luxury hotel standing there.

Under the law, the Government can also invoke Section 36 of the
Tenancy Act, and land which has not been cultivated for three
years can be taken over by the state. The Land Revenue Code also
provides for action to be taken (under Sec 33) for illegal
conversions.

"But the political will for this simply does not exist,"
officials admit. Once one set of such illegalities take place, it
would be hard to stop others from doing the same, they say,
adding that such moves would possibly not stand up to the
scrutiny of the courts.

Meanwhile, another fast-getting-popular route to making pots of
quick money in parts of Bardez is for field-owners to sell common
groundwater resources to hotels and construction projects. Sold
for as little as five paise a litre, this water depletion is
affecting villages like Sangolda, Saligao, and others.

But officials plead that nothing can be done on this front since
the state does not have its own Ground Water Resources Act.

In such land rackets, the law is flouted or bent with support of
the local village-level politician, who often has close links
with state-level politicos. Fearing this, the 'talathi' would
fail to report such cases. Even if reports go the mamlatdar, the
call that comes through is enough to tell junior officials to lay
off.