Team Herald
VASCO: The Sancoale Comunidade will move Supreme Court to reclaim land parcels allocated to Zuari Agro Chemicals, citing long-pending dues and encroachment issues.
At a press conference in Vasco, former Chicalim Sarpanch Pratap Mardolkar and Jayesh Fadte voiced their concern about illegal encroachments and stressed the need to recover rightful revenue from the land. They also revealed plans to utilise some of the reclaimed land for pay parking facilities to generate funds.
The Comunidade emphasized its commitment to preserving its heritage and ensuring the fair use of its assets. They called on authorities to support their efforts in addressing these long-standing grievances.
Mardolkar recalled that the then Chief Minister late Bhausaheb Bandodkar had leased Comunidade land measuring 50,000 lakh square metres to Zuari Agro Chemical to set up an industry and create jobs for Goan youth at Zuarinagar. The land was leased to the company at a meagre 25 paise per square metre.
But today nearly 45 lakh square metres of land had been encroached. The Communidade of Sancoale wants to take this land back.
Mardolkar pointed out that the issue was raised during the last Assembly sessions when the opposition had alleged a Rs 50,000 crore land scam on the Zuari factory land wherein the land was converted into plots to create mega housing. He alleged that the plots were sold at hefty prices that no Goan could afford. Besides this, the mega housing if allowed, would create additional burden on the existing infrastructure such as water, electricity and roads.
In the Assembly, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had stated that the government was awaiting opinion of the Additional Solicitor General and if illegalities were found, the government would cancel permissions granted to the developer.