Sewage and waste flowing into the Salpem lake from neighbouring Margao.
As the Agriculture department has set in motion the process to put in place a Agriculture policy, Saxtti farmers may pose a simple question or two to officials – will the Agriculture policy offer a solution to the issues plaguing the farming community around Saxtti countryside thrown up by urbanization, tourism and industrialization over the years?
Secondly, will the Agriculture department work in tandem with the equally important departments, including Town and Country Planning (TCP), Water Resources (WR), Tourism, besides Urban Development (UD) to protect and save the fast depleting green zone in a taluka on the road towards urbanization?
Demands to put a stop to conversion of agricultural land to non-agricultural purposes, ban on entry of corporates in contract and community farming, opening the farm policy for North Indian businessmen et al might have been heard loud and clear across the state during the consultative process with the stakeholders to protect agriculture for posterity.
Welcome to Salcete, where farmers at some places wage a sustained battle to stop sewage flow into agricultural fields, while at other places farmers wait for the Selaulim irrigation water to come to sow multi crops.
The Salpem lake is a case in point where farmers had stopped stepping into the fields of their ancestors with sewage and waste from the urbanized town devastating the once-lush green fields. Here, the fields were left barren over the last three decades as sewage and waste water from neigbhouring Margao inundated the lake. Paddy cultivation was revived this season through mechanization, with the farmers recording a bumper harvest, but the sewage and waste disposal is far from over.
Similar complaints have poured in from Betalbatim during discussions on the Agriculture policy, with sewage and waste from the new housing colonies finding its way in the agricultural fields.
Navelim village Development Committee Chairperson, Joao D’Souza has stressed on the need to enact a law to stop sewage discharge into the agriculture fields and penalize officers. “What will the farmers do when their fields are inundated by sewage. Let the policy come up with stringent laws to take care of sewage discharge”, he added.
Villages along Saxtti’s coastal belt have acquired the characteristics of semi-urban centres, with starred resorts, hotels and mega housing projects dotting across the belt, putting strain not only on the demography, but on the scarce land resources as well. Says Jack Mascarenhas, President of Goyche Fudle Pilge Khatir: “”We have time and again insisted during the ongoing interaction process on Agriculture policy that Agriculture policy for Goa can be more realistic only if it is plugged into a holistic Land Use Policy for Goa. Unless, we adopt a holistic approach to the issue, the agriculture policy will remain only on paper if departments such as the TCP change the zones for purposes other than agriculture”.
Social activist Zarinha Da Cunha echoed similar sentiments. “Unless the departments of Agriculture, TCP and Water Resources work in tandem, any number of policies will have no change on the ground reality. What can one expect when TCP goes about changing green zones for mega housing projects? Will the Agriculture policy come up with an answer to stop the conversions,” Zarinha questioned.
Retired deputy agriculture director, Amancio Fernandes pointed out the policy should create an enforcement agency in the department of Agriculture to crack a whip against violations, including discharge of sewage in fields. Given the huge pendency in tenancy cases, Amancio called for fast track courts to dispose of the cases within a time-frame.
The Selaulim dam, the lifeline of Salcete and neighbouring Mormugao, considering that the dam caters to the drinking water requirements of people in the district, has come in sharp focus during the interactive exercise on agriculture policy.
For, farmers say the avowed objective behind building the Selaulim dam was to make available water for irrigation of agricultural fields. “ What is a indeed a matter of concern is that raw water from Selaulim dam is being supplied to meet the ever-increasing demands of the Industries at Verna and Mormugao”, remarked a farmer.
The farmer added: “There are moves to tap Selaulim dam water to talukas other than Quepem, Salcete and Mormugao. The question that remains unanswered is whether will there be sufficient water left in the dam for irrigation in the event farmers go for multi-crops”.
