Parab trains guns at Borkar as RG’s internal rift deepens

Panaji: Based on Supreme Court directives to all state chief secretaries, Goa govt on Thursday constituted taluka-level special investigation teams (SIT) to examine whether any reserved forest land in possession of the state revenue department has been allotted to private individuals or institutions for purposes other than forestry.The Supreme Court had directed that appropriate steps should be taken to take back possession of any such lands and handover the same to the forest department. The order also stated that wherever taking back the possession was not found to be in the larger public interest, the state should recover the cost of such land and utilise it for development of forests.As per the SC directives, states are to ensure completion of the exercise within a year. Accordingly, the state revenue department, as a preliminary measure, had issued instructions to both the collectors and the forest department to conduct field inspections to identify such cases.Following this exercise, the constitution of the taluka-level SIT was notified on Thursday.Each team will be led by the deputy collector, with an assistant conservator of forests as a member. Other members will include representatives of the directorate of settlement and land records, talathi of the respective village, besides any other member or members to be co-opted by the team leader (deputy collector), if required.“The SITs shall examine whether any reserved forest land in possession of the revenue department has been allotted to any private individuals/institutions for any purpose other than the forestry purpose. It shall also identify and prepare a detailed inventory of such lands, including extent, location and present status. Recommend and initiate action for taking back possession of such lands and handing over the same to the forest department,” the notification states.In cases where it is not possible to take possession of land in the larger public interest, the SITs are to assess and recommend recovery of the cost of such land from the concerned individual/institution, for utilisation towards development of forests.“The SITs shall also identify reserve forest lands which are still reflecting in the revenue records in the name of revenue department and submit the detailed report in each such case to govt through the collector concerned. The progress of the SITs shall be jointly monitored by the collector of the respective district and the concerned deputy conservator of forests,” the notification states.Margao: “Peace” accompanied by a victory sign. That was all Revolutionary Goans MLA Viresh Borkar posted on Facebook as his party faces turmoil from within. It didn’t quite work.Party chief Manoj Parab latched onto the single-word appeal and turned it on its head, suggestively accusing Borkar and his “gang” of plotting against him. The man who had stood shoulder to shoulder with Borkar during the latter’s hunger strike at Azad Maidan over Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning Act, now appeared to be reading conspiracy into even a one-word olive branch.Senior party functionary Ajay Kholkar, who only a day ago had insisted there was “no dispute whatsoever” between Borkar and Parab, appeared to revise that assessment sharply on Thursday, posting, “Your so-called peace has turned us into pieces.”The hunger strike that won Borkar his finest hour has apparently left behind complications he did not quite plan for. The St Andre MLA acknowledged as much after his call for peace made matters worse. “First came 39A … now come the side effects,” Borkar said in his Facebook post.The episode marks a significant rise in tensions within the regional outfit. Until now, Parab’s social media broadsides — which first burst into the open on Tuesday when he publicly released a list of party members he accused of anti-party activities — had conspicuously stopped short of naming Borkar. On Thursday, that restraint ended.Meanwhile, RG general secretary Vishwesh Naik issued an appeal that read more like a distress call, urging “people across the globe” to help save the party from attempts from certain internal quarters to divide the party. For a party that, not too long ago, had the wind at its back, the optics could hardly be worse, political observers say. Borkar’s hunger strike over rampant land conversions under the controversial Section 39A of the TCP Act had catapulted both the MLA and the fledgling outfit into the political spotlight, drawing crowds to Azad Maidan and wresting a public assurance from govt.Now, with assembly elections only a few months away, political observers say that the momentum is haemorrhaging. For those who had hoped RG might anchor a united anti-BJP front, the spectacle of its leadership publicly trading accusations is a disquieting one.“RG had real momentum after 39A — throwing that away now, with elections around the corner, would be nothing short of suicidal,” said a political observer.