To Goanet - On the the final leg of our Salcette tour, we make a whistle-stop at the charming village of Carmona. A few weeks back, there was an eruption in the Carmona panchayat with villagers demanding cancellation of a mega housing project of the Raheja company.
To get to the Raheja site, we have to first wade through a pile of concrement. As far as I know, nobody is opposing this. Why? http://www.parrikar.org/images/Salcette/carmona-mm-1.jpg http://www.parrikar.org/images/Salcette/carmona-mm-2.jpg Now to the Raheja site. The ghati guards wanted me to sign some register even though I was on a public road. Needless to say, I shooed them away. What you see is only an outpost to a massive property that extends all the way to the River Sal - http://www.parrikar.org/images/Salcette/carmona-raheja-1.jpg It is learnt that the Rahejas were planning some 500+ villas to begin with. The entire village has had only around 1000 homes the past couple of centuries at least. Digest that for a minute. This is the kind of all-pervasive cancer brought into Goa today by the builder-politician nexus. I would not yet declare victory. We are dealing with wily operators here and they are capable of sundering village unity by dangling cash or through other methods of chicanery. Already we hear noises such as "if they scale down the number of villas to 75 it might be acceptable." Whispers about the "economic benefits" that will accrue to the village are also being amplified. Expect a rapid ramp up of such spurious propaganda. The Rahejas are apparently saying, "We have bought all this land. What do we do with it now?" Matanhy Saldanha has the right answer for Mr. Raheja: Plant more coconut trees, jackfruit trees, mango trees, and other varieties of trees. Then build a small house for yourself and come stay there. One mundkar family on the property has been persuaded into vacating their home by the tossing of crumbs in the form of two tiny, narrow 'bungalows' - http://www.parrikar.org/images/Salcette/carmona-raheja-2.jpg The desolation in the village of Benaulim has already been treated under separate cover. See - http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2008-May/073237.html With this, we conclude our Salcette safari. You have seen what you needed to see. Now it is up to you. Archive: Wrecking Salcette: Part 1/4 - http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2008-May/073467.html Wrecking Salcette: Part 2/4 - http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2008-May/073554.html Wrecking Salcette: Part 3/4 - http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2008-May/073605.html RTI document for Salcette procured from TCP Dept - http://www.parrikar.org/misc/tcp-salcette.pdf Warm regards, r