PANAJI: Illegal constructions in swathes of
comunidade lands for decades have caused much heartburn among its components. The state is statutorily the guardian of this age-old institution, but they blame the political class and the managing committees for pushing it to the brink of ruin.
A few comunidade members are in a daze, as they watch helplessly the spate of encroachments and illegal alienation of land depriving them of their massive holdings.
A total of 225 comunidades in all talukas owned 22,470 hectares of land. Government agencies like comptroller and auditor general of India (
CAG) occasionally exposes the sorry state of affairs in the hoary institution.
“It is difficult to take stock of the illegalities. Vast areas have been lost in urban settings. In remote areas, the components are not aware about the goings on and many don’t challenge the illegalities,” says Andre Pereira, secretary, association of components of comunidades.
The CAG report rapped government departments for the shoddy state of affairs, laying bare massive irregularities in sale of land granted under Alvara mode and poor maintenance of records. In its annual report for the year ending on March 31, 2015, the CAG has cited a
few cases of illegal sale of 11 lease-held lands involving a total area of 88.12 hectares despite a restriction on transfer of land. In five cases of lease-held lands involving 43.62 hectares, which had been reverted to the government, CAG has found that these have been sold to third parties.
The Portuguese started leasing government land under the title of Alvara when it permitted agricultural use of parcels of land after passing a decree (no 3602) in November 1917. CAG scrutinized 420 alvara cases which also included 120 cases of land reverted to the government. But manipualtions were apparent, as in 104 cases, the names of private persons were incorrectly shown in the record of rights. While alvaras account for larger swathes of land, comunidades have lost vast tracts of land to encroachments in urban areas like Vasco, Margao and other places.
A few years back, a total of 2,515 encroachments, including 2,127 in north and 418 in south Goa, had been reported by the
revenue department. Recently, 77 cases were reported by administrator of comunidades, south zone during the last three years till August 2017, but none of them were demolished.
The problem is compounded by various amendments brought in by the state, political patronage to illegalities and complicity of managing committees of comunidades. “Stringent measures, including debarring such members from holding office is needed. Similarly, administrators should be held accountable. In south Goa, no demolitions have been carried out for years, barring a recent one,”
Savio J F Correia of Margao comunidade said.
Representative Image