Defence minister’s letter boosts Ponda’s land-reclaiming hope

Ponda: Thirty-two years on, Ponda Municipal Council’s hope of getting back prime land from the Indian military has been rekindled as defence minister Rajnath Singh has agreed to look into the matter. According to Ponda council chairperson Ritesh Naik, Singh has responded favourably to the council’s correspondence.
A copy of Singh’s letter has been marked to agriculture minister and Ponda MLA Ravi Naik, who has been pursuing the matter with the Centre for a long time.
A major chunk of land in a prime location of Ponda town has been with the military, which uses it for housing officers. In 1991, the defence minister at the time, Sharad Pawar, had a small portion of the land returned to the council.
Ritesh Naik said that 0.62 acres (2,530 sq m) of land which was returned during Pawar’s tenure as the defence minister was used by the Goa government to build a martyrs’ memorial—the Kranti Maidan. The memorial was dedicated to the public on October 2, 1996, by the chief minister at the time, Pratapsingh Rane. Another portion, 1.62 acres (6,556 sq m), is still with the military.
The erstwhile Portuguese rulers had acquired prime land admeasuring 2.23 acres (9,024.5 sq m) in the heart of Ponda town on August 19, 1954, for their military use. After Liberation in 1961, the premises became a camp for the Indian military. In 1971, Ponda Municipal Council sought to get the land transferred back to it. However, the defence ministry retained the land.
Later, the Goa government allotted land admeasuring 16,475 sq m to the Indian military at Curti in a bid to get the Ponda land back.