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3
IN FOCUS
21 March 2015
Pisciculture sounds death knell for Khajan fields
(Cont from Page 1)
“All this while we
were just given assurances of different types.
The deputy collector
came and said he will
resolve all our problems
at the earliest. But nothing concrete has been
done as of now,” adds
Sankalp.
The villagers have
been agitating for past
several years alleging that
efforts are on to illegally
convert of about 3.5
lakh sq. mtrs of agricultural land for fishing
activity by inundating
khajan lands with saline
water. Locals have been
vehemently trying to
bring the issue to the
notice of the authorities
concerned. Complaints
and representations have
been made by the villag-
ers of Caranjal to the
made a representation to
to purposeful inunda-
Scenic view of Caranzal village, Marcaim. Agitating villagers in the inset.
collector, Mamlatdar,
soil conservation authorities, Talathi as well
as the local panchayat
in addition they have
also sought the necessary
information through the
Right To Information
(RTI) Act and have also
Chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar recently.
But locals allege that all
concerned have turned
a deaf ear towards their
grievances.
According to locals
around 70 houses in the
locality are affected due
Khajan Fields Issue in question
Villagers allege that there is an attempt to inundate
about 3.5 lakh sq. mtrs of agricultural Khajan land with
saline water for fishing activity
Problems faced by villagers
Khajan fields are being rendered uncultivable
Around 70 houses in the locality are affected, cracks
have also been developed in some.
Wells and other potable water sources have been
salinated
Stored waters act as breeding ground for mosquitoes
and invitation for diseases such as Malaria and dengue.
The solution
Immediate stoppage of inundation of the Khajan fields
with saline water
Action against perpetrators
Immediate repair of the bundh which has breached at
many places followed by timely maintenance.
tion of Parampoi Kator
Khazan land with saline
water. They also add
that some houses have
developed cracks and are
likely to collapse . Villagers say that saline water is
stored here by breaking
the khazan bundh to
facilitate fishing activities
in a hazardous manner.
The root cause of
the problem according
to locals is that some
individuals from the
Parampai area do not
the drain river water that
enters their fields for
selfish gains. The water,
which flows in during
the high tide on account
of a breach in the bundhara located at Caranzal,
flows out of the fields
through a sluice gate at
Parampai, which is at the
other end. But, villagers
claim that the operators
of the sluice gate tend to
stock the water for the
pisciculture of prawns.
The villagers say they
have been facing the
brunt of the illegal filling of salty water in the
Khajan lands for the past
Timeline of events
several years. First of all
their cultivable lands are
turning non-cultivable
due to the increase in
salinity and inundation.
Secondly, the wells and
other water resources
in the village are turning polluted/saline due
to the unnatural water
logging. Another problem which the villagers
face is that of unbridled
mosquito breeding in the
waters that gets stored in
the Khajan lands.
Locals say that on
one hand government
says they want people
to turn to farming and
but on the other hand
when people are urging the government to
protect their cultivable
lands nothing seems to
be happening.
(Cont on Page 5)
18 March 15 – 400 of 775 voters refrain from casting their vote at the ZP Elections 2015. Residents gather
at the community hall to voice their protests and boycott the elec tions.
16 March 15 - Ponda sub-divisional officer releases the blocked water by opening the sluice gate doors, the
angry locals were not satisfied with the measure. They claim that authorities had failed to repair the bundh
which had breached at many places.
16 Mar, 2015 - Hundreds of residents from Caranjal-Parampai in Marcaim gathered at the khazan Mand
and later marched to protest against the illegal
conversion of agricultural land for fishing activity by
storing saline water.
27 Feb 2015- The team of Ponda Mamlatdar’s
office consisting of head clerk Janvi Kalekar, circle
inspector Jayprakash Gavnekar, Talathi Devidas
Bhomkar and field surveyor Anita Shirodakr inspect the controversial fishing activities being carried
out in Khazan field at Marcaim and submit a report
to the Mamlatdar
26 Feb, 2015 – Carnzal residents lead a rally to
Ponda Mamlatdar’s office with demand for repair
od breached bunds at the earliest so that saline
water doesn’t enter the fields.
Villagers took representation to the Ponda
Mamalatdars office to resolve the khajan fields
issue.
8 Feb , 2015 - Chief Minister Laxmikant Parcekar says the state government is mulling over a policy to
protect khazan agricultural farms from being converting into forest land at a function in Curti, Ponda. The
chief minister appeals to khazan land agriculturists to continue with their activities to protect khazan land.
“The government wants to protect their interests,” he says.