BY SUDESH BHOSLE|NT NETWORK

VASCO: Come monsoon and the hundreds of occupants of the houses located on the hilly area of Vasco, viz Headland-Sada and Bogda, live in fear of their lives and property.

These areas which are also known as landslide prone zone and the houses located here are in constant danger of collapsing due to mudslides.

The Headland-Sada area, which once upon a time was free from any dwellings, began to see a spat of structures with the Mormugao port coming. Today it is thickly populated and has plenty of houses, many of which are constructed on slopes of the hill.

The unplanned construction of these houses starting from Rumdawada-Jetty to Tariwada-Bogda, has witnessed a number of landslide incidents over the years, the most severe being the one reported in 1999 at Tariwada-Bogda, in which 10 to 15 houses were buried under the mud. The incident forced the occupants of these houses to live in the open, thereby forcing the state administration to provide then shelter on humanitarian grounds.

Some of the residents of the destroyed houses were asked to occupy the police quarters at Bogda, which too were in dilapidated condition. These people occupied the same for over 10 years, while the Goa Rehabilitation Board (GRB) made arrangements to build proper shelters for them.

However, despite knowing the dangers of building houses on slopes, the construction of houses from Rumdawada-Jetty to Tariwada-Bogda still continues. Not only is the hill occupied but people have encroached on land which has been marked as ‘danger zone.’

The Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) has been issuing notices to residents of houses that are situated in the danger zone, to vacate the premises. However, till date, not a single occupant of these houses has vacated the premises.

The office of the Deputy Collector and Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Mormugao and the office of the Mormugao mamlatdar have conducted a survey of the landslide area and have identified people who could be allocated tenements from the GRB.

Mr Khadapkar informed that the people living in the danger zone have been issued notices to evacuate, however, they refuse to do so as they do not have an alternative place to go. He said that under these curcumstances, the MMC could not harass them or force them to leave, even when living there is dangerous.

He said, "The MMC is making all efforts not only for the overall development but also to improve the quality of life of the people.

The Mormugao MLA, Mr Milind Naik informed that the government should not take the people to task because they have built their houses on the slopes of hills. He said that the government should take all the necessary steps and precautions to protect these houses and their occupants. He informed that landslide is a natural calamity and every precaution taken up by the government in the interest of the people is worth the trouble.

He further said that construction of retaining walls to protect the houses of the people was of utmost importance, however, he lamented, that although he has made efforts to construct retaining walls phase-wise, some engineers of the Public Works Department have constructed the retaining wall to only a certain height and not to the tail end of the houses.

He also pointed that some of the houses which are lying in the danger zone near Desterro and close to Tariwada have witnessed landslide during 2009, wherein a portion of the land behind their houses came down due to incessant rain.

One of the occupants of a house which is lying in the danger zone informed that the state government has not taken any precautionary measures to protect their houses. Although the landslide incident was reported last year, the state government authorities are least bothered over protection of their homes which are in the danger zone, he said.

He said that the authorities should at least construct a protection wall to safeguard their houses from landslides during this ongoing monsoon.

He also pointed that the state government rather than thinking about the sea link project by investing thousand of crores of rupees in it, should lay stress on protecting the interest of the common man and create facilities for the betterment of the people, and protecting their lives and homes, he said.