Saudi Ministry of Education to showcase innovations at 2025 Geneva International Exhibition    7,523 violators of residency, labor, and border security laws deported in a week    Video contradicts Israeli army account of deadly March 23 strike on Gaza paramedics    Saudi Arabia spends over $241 million to implement de-mining projects in 3 countries    Italy's Meloni government approves controversial security decree expanding police protections and penalties    Egypt submits new Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange proposal: Report    'Everything is possible' — Ronaldo focused on titles, not 1,000-goal milestone after Riyadh Derby win    Saudi, US military leaders discuss enhanced defense cooperation in Riyadh    King Salman Global Academy for Arabic Language launches program with Indiana University    Ronaldo brace powers Al Nassr past Al Hilal in Riyadh derby thriller    Ed Sheeran weaves Persian music into new song, Azizam    Al-Jadaan: Crown Prince's directives confirm government's ability to bring back balance to real estate market    Veteran Bollywood actor Manoj Kumar dies at 87    Foreign investors are allowed to engage in real estate business outside Makkah and Madinah Commercial speculation should not be the purpose of real estate transaction    Aubameyang fires Al Qadsiah into King's Cup final with stoppage-time winner over Al Raed    Musk's X is suing India, as Tesla and Starlink plan entry    Tesla sales plunge after backlash against Elon Musk    Danilo Pereira fires Al Ittihad into King's Cup final with dramatic stoppage-time double    Screen time in bed linked to insomnia, study finds    Mexico bans junk food in schools to fight childhood obesity epidemic    Sweet sales surge ahead of Eid as Saudi chocolate imports top 123 million kg in 2024    Bollywood actress vindicated over boyfriend's death after media hounding    Grand Mufti rules against posting prayers and preaching in mosques on social media    King Salman prays for peace and stability for Palestinians in Ramadan message King reaffirms Saudi Arabia's commitment to serving the Two Holy Mosques and pilgrims    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Villagers in Goa fight to keep ancient community land from university
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 17 - 11 - 2016

For Meena Varik, a teacher in Loliem village in southern Goa, the Bhagwati Moll plateau has always been community land meant for cattle grazing, temple processions and a wildlife reserve.
But if the state has its way, the plateau on a hillock abutting the village could be the site for an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) and the land given over to classrooms, laboratories and hostels for hundreds of students and faculty members.
"We are not against development, but this land is sacred to us and our way of life," Varik said, pointing to the trees and thick scrub that cover the plateau.
"The village owns this land. No one has the right to take it away without our consent."
The plateau, easily accessed by several trails from Loliem, is the latest of Goa's historic comunidades, or community lands, to be caught up in a dispute as demand for land for industrial and development projects grows in India.
About 70 percent of Goa's land is collectively owned by more than 200 comunidades across the state, administered by a traditional code that is centuries old.
Over the years, comunidade lands have been given up for roads, mines, industries and hotels. Many have been contentious decisions, creating deep divides across the state that is popular with tourists for its sandy beaches and laid back vibe.
"These are common lands that have always been meant for the welfare of the whole village, not one single individual or entity," said Andre Antonio Pereira, advocate and secretary of an association of comunidades.
"But we have slowly been losing these lands in the name of development. If we don't protect them, we will lose a part of our history," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
The majority of land conflicts in India are related to common lands, including Goa's comunidades, with disputes centred around their governance, according to a study released on Wednesday by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences.
Communities are dependent on common lands for farming, fishing, livestock rearing, salt manufacturing, and grazing.
While private lands have some protection, governments rarely respect the customary usage or communities' claims over common lands, the report said.
VAGUE BOUNDARIES
Legislation such as a 2006 forest rights law and a 1996 act on tribal areas aim to protect the rights of farmers and local and indigenous communities over their lands, but the laws are usually diluted and poorly implemented, activists say.
The additional challenge with comunidades, which pre-date the arrival of the Portuguese and was codified in the 16th century, is their informal management, said Raison Almeida, chairman of the Green Goa Foundation in Margao.
"The problem is that we are not very organised. We don't even know the extent of our comunidades - their boundaries, what's in them," he said.
"To better protect - and even monetise - the comunidades, we must document them and organise ourselves better."
India has undertaken a massive exercise to digitise land records, even as states struggle to survey land and update records that are more than a century old.
Meanwhile, the Goa government has locked horns with villagers over several projects, including land for a new airport in the northern part of the state, as well as for a National Institute of Technology in south Goa.
The federal government approved setting up an IIT campus in Goa about two years ago, and the institute began operations from a temporary campus in the state earlier this year.
"The decision to locate the IIT campus in Loliem was made by the state government in consultation with village and district officials," said Vivek Kamat, director at the Directorate of Technical Education.
"If villagers turn down the project, we will have to see."
Villagers in Loliem, which lies in the southernmost tip of the state, said they became aware the prestigious university was to be built on about 300 acres (120 hectares) of land on the Bhagwati Moll plateau a few months ago.
Since then, they have written to state and federal officials, opposing the plan, and also held a protest march to the district headquarters. They say comunidade officials, who have given their approval, are acting on their own.
Villagers have demanded a meeting of the village council, which they say has also not kept them informed. The council will issue some of the permits for the construction of the campus.
"It's a prestigious educational institute, not a polluting industry, and we will benefit from it," said Bhushan Padgaonkar, sarpanch or head of the Loliem village council, and a member of the comunidade.
"There is no industry in this village; we need to think of our future. The IIT will put the village on the map," he said.
SACRED LAND
Villagers opposed to the project will attend a council meeting later this month "in large numbers" and oppose the resolution approving the project, said Renuka Prabhugaonkar of the Citizens' Committee of Loliem.
"We don't even have enough water and electricity for ourselves. How will there be enough with a large university?" she said, displaying copies of letters to state and federal officials and a campaign to collect signatures to protest the move.
"How many jobs can a university generate, anyway? The damage to the village, the community will be far greater than any benefit from it," she said.
While comunidades have autonomy over the common lands, state officials are known to influence appointments of their officers and interfere in the running of the comunidades, said Almeida.
Environmental activists have backed the protests in Loliem, saying the plateau is ecologically sensitive and is a natural aquifer for streams that sustain the village.
The state has a spotty environmental record, with accusations of unplanned development damaging its famed coastline. A ban on mining in 2012, welcomed by environmentalists, was lifted three years later.
Villagers in Loliem say they are determined to fight till the state backs down.
"We are simply protecting what our forefathers passed on to us. We want to preserve it for our children and grandchildren," said Varik, the teacher.
"This project threatens our culture, our way of life." — Reuters


Clic here to read the story from its source.