A meeting of the Committee constituted by the Government of Goa to address issues relating to the rehabilitated families of the Salaulim Dam Project was held today on 09/03/26 at Secretarait Porvorim under the chairmanship of Ms. Egna Cleetus, IAS, the Collector, Kushavati District. Shri Subhash Phal Dessai, Hon’ble Minister for Social Welfare and MLA of Sanguem Constituency, attended the meeting as a Special Invitee. Also present at the meeting were officials of the Revenue and Survey Departments, along with the Sarpanch of Bhati Panchayat and the Sarpanch of Vaddem Panchayat.
The Committee has been constituted by the Revenue Department, Government of Goa, vide Order No. 16/01/01/2025-RD-I/PF-III/73 dated 16/01/2026, with the mandate to verify and correct survey numbers of plots allotted to rehabilitated families, explore the possibility of amalgamation of survey numbers, process pending mutation cases, and dispose of issues related to survey records. During the meeting, several key issues concerning the rehabilitated families were discussed. It was noted that the names of some rehabilitated beneficiaries do not appear in the Record of Rights (Form I & XIV). In certain cases, the original beneficiaries are now deceased, which has created difficulties for families in registering their plots allotted to them by the Government. In this regard, the Hon’ble Minister suggested that a special Government approval may be obtained to include all such missing names in the Record of Rights, including those of deceased beneficiaries, so that the affected families can receive clear and legal ownership of their plots. It was decided that the Survey Department, which has already commenced the exercise of recording details of the beneficiaries, will complete the verification and necessary corrections within the next 15 days. Further, a special camp will be organized on 21st March 2026 in the affected Panchayats by the concerned Mamlatdars to register grievances and prepare a comprehensive list of persons whose names are missing from the Record of Rights. Once the list is prepared, a proposal will be submitted to the Government seeking approval to include the concerned persons, including deceased beneficiaries, in the Record of Rights. This will facilitate proper regularization and ownership of the plots in favour of the rehabilitated families. The Hon’ble Minister also suggested that during this process the relevant survey numbers may be amalgamated, so that beneficiaries do not have to individually undertake mutation procedures. Instead, the Revenue Department can complete the mutation process collectively in one exercise. The Sarpanchs also raised the issue that some rehabilitated families who were allotted residential plots for house construction are facing objections from the Forest Department, stating that the land falls within an Eco-Sensitive Area. The Hon’ble Minister expressed concern over the matter and stated that if the Government itself has allotted the land for rehabilitation, such objections need to be examined urgently. It was decided that the matter will be taken up with the Forest Department in the next meeting of the Committee. Issues relating to illegal structures and encroachments on allotted plots were also discussed. It was decided that these matters will be addressed once the initial exercise of updating the Record of Rights is completed. The Committee expressed confidence that the entire exercise will be completed within the next two months.
