Goa: Seven held for protesting land filling at Taleigao for panchayat ghar

PANAJI: Panaji police on Saturday detained seven activists and later arrested them on charges of obstructing work on the new panchayat ghar in Taleigao. The activists were protesting at the site and stated that fertile agricultural land was being filled for the construction of the new building.
The activists were also joined by farmers, who said that there are eight tenants in the project land. The farmers said that tenants have been cultivating the land and earning their livelihood from it, a claim denied by the Taleigao panchayat officials. The land where the new panchayat ghar is planned is located adjacent to the Taleigao community centre.
Cecille Rodrigues, Albertina Almeida, Pundalik Raikar, Xavier Almeida, Prakash Salat, Shreya Israni and Michelle Faria were those arrested for holding the protest. They were released only late in the evening on bail by the sub-divisional magistrate.
The protestors on Saturday morning stopped the trucks being brought in for land filling, which led to the additional collector rushing to the site. The protestors then asked for documents to be produced for the work, failing which they said they would not allow the work to be carried out. They continued to obstruct the trucks and were therefore detained and later arrested.
The arrests were widely criticized on social media platforms as netizens called it a violation on citizens’ rights on Goa statehood day. They also criticized the use of male officers for the arrest of some of the female protestors, claiming that Cecille Rodrigues had been dragged from the site of protest.
Meanwhile, Taleigao panchayat officials said that the project was planned as early as 2004-05.
“The process for the construction was started only after carrying out all the required documentation,” said sarpanch Agnelo Da Cunha. “Some of our panch members themselves are farmers. They will tell you what the people of Taleigao think. If people were really opposed to it, then there would be thousands of people on the road protesting.”
He said that the land was finalised for the panchayat ghar as the plan is to have all amenities in a centralised area in the village. “This is today the main centre of village. We are looking for amenities for people under one roof. It is Taleigao comunidade land. If it is fertile land, then why is it not being cultivated? I request the comunidade to cultivate it. This is for a government project. The land will always remain for the people. We need a full-fledged panchayat office.”
The protesters, however, said that in 2007, a gram sabha resolution had been passed to withdraw the proposal for construction of the panchayat ghar on this land, and the resolution had also been submitted to the BDO. “The panchayat itself had withdrawn the project. We have a document to support this,” said activist Xavier Almeida.
Da Cunha however called the protests political agenda.