Panchayat Resists Aguada Plateau Takeover for 17 years

PLATEAU TAKEOVER PANCHAYAT RESISTS ... FOR 17 YEARS 

Herald Review June 1, 2014 


Driven by the sentiment in the village, the Candolim panchayat has managed to stall the government- Taj group’s proposed Disney- style amusement park project on the Aguada plateau for 17 years. The High Court has now ordered the director of panchayats to dispose of the appeal in the matter on or before August 31. But for the villagers, the resistance has not plateaued … 


LISA ANN MONTEIRO 

It was a deal signed almost two decades ago, but hasn’t seen the light of day much to the relief of Candolim villagers. In 1983 the Goa Government acquired land measuring 3,13,630 square metres from the Candolim Comunidade at the rate of Rs 10 per sq mt for recreational and sports facilities including a golf course and helipad at Aguada plateau in Candolim.

Fourteen years later, on June 19, 1997 the Governor of Goa signed a lease agreement with M/ S Indian Resort Hotels Ltd Director Jagat Mohan Verma leasing out the over 3 lakh sq mt of the Aguada plateau for a total lease period of 99 years ( till 2096) for the development of the Fort Aguada plateau as a ‘ recreational park of international standard with allied facilities’. 

The lease agreement speaks of a recreational park with amusement rides, water rides, electronic amusement, a mini zoo, a mini lagoon, children’s theatre, a village shopping arcade, local arts and crafts museum, a convention hall for exhibitions and local festivals, a mini golf course, a lawn tennis court, badminton court, club house, restaurant, lounge, swimming pool, fitness centre with modern gymnasium, aerobic centre, sauna bath, steam room, whirlpool and jacuzzi. A health facility centre including a library, audio- visual room, hall for yoga, hall for meditation centre, accommodation for course participants was also part of the plan.

The club house was to have close to 50 rooms and the entire concrete construction was planned for a total built- up area of 11,409 sq mt according to the lease.

The appeal 
Indian Resort Hotels had appealed before the Director of Panchayats ( DP) in 2003 and again in 2005 after the Candolim panchayat refused to give the party a license. The matter has remained pending ever since before the DP. Indian Resort Hotels recently approached the High Court of Bombay at Goa in the matter which directed the DP to dispose of the petition on or before August 31, 2014.

An official from the tourism department said the High Court order that came more than a month ago has brought much relief to the department.

“ This has been pending over the past many years. It would have remained further pending if it wasn’t for our intervention. The director of tourism started taking up the matter and met with the party ( Taj Group) three times recently to try and expedite the matter. He wants to recover money. The government is not getting any revenue from the property and neither are the intended facilities being provided to the people. The property is lying idle and neither the government nor the hotel is benefitting,” he said.

When asked what rent the hotel had paid so far, he said they had made the down payment of Rs 50 lakhs. “ I don’t remember if they paid any rent after that. It has been such a long time. But we can’t say the hotel has defaulted in paying the lease rental because they couldn’t get permissions from various authorities. After getting permission they need some time to create infrastructure.” 

Contrary clauses 
In the lease agreement one clause defeats the other regarding the lease rental. Clause 2( iii) states: “ The Lessee shall pay Rs 1 crore or 5 per cent of the gross turnover of the Recreational Park ( less taxes, charges, levies etc, payable to the government/ Central Government/ or any other local bodies/ authorities in the State of Goa) per annum, whichever is higher by way of lease rental, the payment of which will start after the expiry of one year from the date of commencement of the lease”. 

Clause 2( v) states: “ Immediately on execution of Lease Deed, the Lessee shall deposit a sum of Rs 50,00,000 which will be adjusted towards the lease rental at the rate of Rs 10,00,000 per year”. 

The lease also states that the government will give infrastructural facilities from the project in the form of water and electricity supply free of cost. The government provided the water and electricity connection to the hotel after the lease agreement was signed. The government also accorded sanction for expenditure of Rs 18,25,534 for providing water supply to the site.

Eight interveners from Candolim and Sinquerim who have been made party to the proceedings say in their application for intervention that the concrete construction will destroy the forest and cause ecologically irreversible consequences and cannot be justified under the guise of “ development” under any circumstances. The proposed construction, they say, is in gross violation of the Environment Protection Act and CRZ. The site comprises extensive ground water resources and mineral resources. It will cause acute shortage of water and electricity which the government is not even in a position to supply to the villagers, they say in their application.

The village panchayat of Candolim in August last year submitted an application before the director of panchayats asking for inspections to be held again at the site. The application stated that authorities in the past had granted permissions blindly and requested that parties from GCZMA, TCP, Forest Department, and Tourism Department all be present. The DP hasn’t permitted this yet.

The final approval of the government for change in use of the land from orchard zone to settlement zone was conveyed to the director of tourism in a letter dated February 18, 1999.

‘Backdoor sale’ 
The interveners say the 99 year lease is a backdoor method of sale of the land to the party. They say the proposed construction will turn the plateau into a concrete jungle and cannot be termed a ‘ park’. The word ‘ park’ they say has been used to disguise the huge project. One of the interveners, Fatima D’Costa, who has a cart ( gaddo) selling refreshments opposite the entrance to Fort Aguada on the plateau found that her cart had caught fire at night after she left for home last month on April 26. She didn’t suspect any foul play and hence didn’t file any police complaint. Exactly a month later, on May 26, two other carts belonging to two other interveners, Margareth Parento and Neeta Naik, were set on fire at night.A police complaint was filed.

The tourism department official says NGOs and people criticize the government on one hand for not providing facilities and when the government does try and do something they ask whether the project has all the clearances.

But the interveners are firm when they say the land is the last piece of non commercialized open space left in the entire Candolim belt where they can take a walk, jog and where their kids can play and enjoy the natural beauty They say they will fight the project tooth and nail because it was their Comunidade land that was acquired by the government for a measly rate of Rs 10 per sq mt and given on a 99 year lease to a five star hotel.