Moira bats for identity, rejects urban label

Mapusa: Villagers of Moira on Sunday unanimously resolved to oppose and reject the proposed classification of the village as an urban area under the Goa Land Revenue Code. They said that Moira should retain its village status. The resolution was passed at a special gram sabha attended by more than 280 villagers.

Sarpanch Sagar Naik told villagers that the panchayat had received a memorandum seeking its comments on the proposed inclusion of Moira in the list of urban areas.

“The Revenue Department sent a notice to the Director of Panchayats on May 13 indicating its intention to revisit the 2020 notification declaring certain areas as urban,” he said, adding that the panchayat had already passed a resolution opposing the proposed classification.

Former panchayat member Prakash Raul said that villagers should unite against the proposal, recalling that a similar move to classify Taleigao as an urban area had been rejected.

Villagers Venita Coelho and Vigilia De Sa made a PowerPoint presentation explaining the process of urban classification and its potential impact on the village and residents.

“Earlier too, the government attempted to classify Moira as urban. Under the Regional Plan 2006, Moira was proposed as an ‘Emerging Township’, but the move was rejected through a unanimous gram sabha resolution. Later, in 2020, another attempt was made through a gazette notification, which was subsequently withdrawn following public opposition,” said Coelho.

She said that once a village is classified as urban, there would be no panchayat or gram sabha, and decisions would be taken by bureaucrats rather than elected representatives. She also said that property taxes, shop licence fees, building fees and sanitation charges would increase substantially.

De Sa said that land conversion would become much easier in urban areas and alleged that the ultimate intention was to transform the village into a city.

“In our village, we still have protections for khazan lands, paddy fields and ecologically sensitive areas. After urbanisation, the FAR will increase. On the same-sized plot, an urban zone can permit nearly three times more construction than a village settlement zone,” she said.