Corlim p’yat asks govt to hold off on sale agreement

Panaji: The people of Corlim gave a thumbs down to the transfer of the Santa Monica land, currently occupied by Syngenta, to Deccan Fine Chemicals at a gram sabha on Sunday morning at the panchayat office. Over 100 people showed up to express their concern over the risk posed by a company to the surrounding villages and unanimously approved the resolution.
“We have passed a resolution to write to the government, collector and sub-registrar, asking them not to enter into any agreement on the sale of land,” deputy sarpanch Victor Pereira said. “It is to be seen if the government accepts its fault for allowing the area to get populated.”
Worried about safety, the panchayat immediately formed a committee of local citizens once they found out that Syngenta India limited intended to sell the 7.54 sq m of land. Panch members met Syngenta officials to voice their concerns and were assured that their fears would be taken into consideration.
“The people passed a resolution saying that they did not want Syngenta to continue the sale agreement and that they would challenge it in court on the grounds that the density of the population is high in the surrounding area and that the orignal sale deed prevents such a transfer of land.
“We were then called for a meeting and told that there is a 90% possibility of selling the land to Deccan Fine Chemicals which has a dubious record in safety,” Pereira said. “We will have a public meeting with the nearby villages to tell them of our decision.”
Social activist and lawyer Aires Rodrigues also opposed the move saying that it would be challenged in court as the original sale deed prevented Syngenta from selling the land to a third party without giving the original vendor, in this case the archdiocese of Goa and Daman, and the government the first right to purchase the land.