January 2008 Edition
Manshi Asher
Panjim
ON 23 November, Goa’s Movement Against SEZs (GMAS), a coalition of NGOs, citizens’ groups, intellectuals and opposition parties, including the BJP, Shiv Sena and CPI, carried out a march and held a protest at Panjim. They demanded scrapping of all special conomic zones (SEZs) approved for Goa. Under the leadership of Mathany Saldanah, an MLA, the group submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat. “We believe that SEZs will not lead to any industrial development of Goa and its people. We see these unfold as a real estate scam, with the government acting as a mere broker in land deals,” said Amol Navalkar whose NGO is a member of the coalition. Referring to two of the notified SEZs and the four approved, Navalkar said: “In all these cases the land was acquired by the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) over the years in phases. It is now being handed over to private developers.
The plans indicate that these areas will
be developed into plush housing complexes.”
Another petition submitted by the
coalition in October states, “All open
spaces and internal roads measuring over 500,000
sq. metres are being handed over arbitrarily to the
companies free of cost initially. Subsequently, a rate
of just Rs 100 per square metre will be charged. In
February 2006 the minimum rate for industrial
plots was fixed at Rs 750 per square metre. In April
2006, land was allotted to SEZ developers at an
inexplicable rate of just Rs 600 per square metre.”
The lands before being acquired by the IDC were
Gaunkari or Comunidad lands. Gaunkari is a 2000-
year-old system of ownership under which land is
treated as a common property resource, owned
jointly by a group of people in a village or by the
entire village. Shareholders cultivate the land. They
could do paddy farming, horticulture or use it for
grazing. A management system with a written code
of conduct governs the use of these lands.
Over time, due to feudal influences and the revenue
department staking its claim on Gaunkari
land, the system of ownership has not been democratic.
In some villages, powerful shareholders
along with local revenue officials have made profits
by selling Gaunkari lands to private interests.
As a result, many Gaunkari lands lie barren or under threat of being alienated or acquired. “Most of the 1,200 hectares for the proposed 18 SEZ projects would be Gaunkari land,” says Jatin, a lawyer supporting GMAS. Panchayats are not all sitting quiet. Keri Panchayat in Sattari taluka of north Goa, on whose Gaunkari land CIPLA is setting up its 120 hectare Pharma SEZ, is gearing up to launch a protest. Bhabla Gawade, a resident of the neighbouring panchayat, says: “Fifteen years ago, the IDC acquired Keri’s Gaunkari land and handed it over for a project called Nylon 66 (Dupont-Thapar group).The villagers fought tooth and nail to resist the setting up of this factory on grounds that it would pollute their water sources. In response, the government withdrew the project and now they have sold the land to CIPLA.” Almost 70 per cent of Keri’s households, mostly adivasis, depend on arecanut and cashew plantations which in turn needs irrigation from Karmale lake. But the lake will be affected by effluents from the factory. “Sure to be displaced are the Dhangar community who graze their animals on this (Gaunkari) land,” adds Gawade.
Under the leadership of the local sarpanch, Keri Nagrik Samiti was formed three months ago to oppose the SEZ. This time around the government is showing no signs of retreating and the company has already started construction. The threat of water depletion is a cause for concern. “As per government data the SEZs will have a water requirement of 400 lakh litres per day,” states a flyer circulated by GMAS. It also raises the spectre of power scarcity with the SEZs’ estimated requirement being 350 MW per day. With Rs 40,000 crore worth of investment, these SEZs claim they will provide jobs to six lakh people. Goans are hardly celebrating. “They are promising lakhs of jobs in a state where the total number of unemployed is not more than 80,000. It is anybody’s guess that the workforce will be brought in from outside the state and that is unacceptable to us,” asserts Navalkar. Goa has already been flooded with people because of the tourism and mining industry. The state is densely populated beyond its carrying capacity. The influx will ruin the Goan economy, society, culture and place a huge burden on local infrastructure and environment, feel local citizens. Little wonder, then, that the opposition to SEZs is gathering such momentum. This is the second time in its term that the ruling Congress is under severe public pressure on the issue of ‘development’ in the state.
Early this year the proposed Regional Plan 2011 - 2020 drew protests by the Goa Bachao Abhiyan. So strong was the protest that the Minister of Town and Country Planning, Babush Monserrate, had to resign and the Regional Plan was cancelled. People’s groups are hoping for a similar victory this time too. With the GMAS protest gathering steam, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat has promised not to allow new SEZs and to review the proposed ones. However, some are sceptical about the campaign and feel the BJP is merely making political capital out of the agitation. “Despite all the questions being raised we are aligning with them because they have taken a stance against SEZs in the state and we hope to hold them accountable for it,” said Setor D’Souza of GMAS. Many church-based groups and the SEZ Virodhi Manch which comprise representatives of affected villages like Keri, Verna, Quitol, Pernem, Loutolim and Sancoale are also opposing SEZs in Goa.
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