People displaced by Tillari project to get jobs

Panaji, Jan 17, DHNS:,

Jan 17 2011, 23:02 ist
updated: Jan 17 2011, 23:02 ist

Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Anil Tatkare said 1,236 families across 11 villages in the Sindhdurga region had been displaced by the dam. He says Maharashtra provided government jobs to 204 project affected persons (PAP), but Goa had done nothing to implement its commitment.

“The issue has been pending for 10 long years. I urge the Goa government to either provide the PAPs with jobs or arrive at a one-time settlement deal,” Tatkare said after a meeting with Goa Water Resources Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues.

Maharashtra argues that since Goa has taken the lion’s share of the inter-state project —it gets 73 per cent of the 16 TMC water—it must bear the greater burden of compensation. Tatkare said 630 people would have to be provided with government jobs to implement the 1990 agreement.

“Maharashtra has given employment to lakhs of people from other states,” Tatkare stressed. Rodrigues said the Goa government has to study the financial implications to see how best it can settle the inter-state agreement.

Started in 1982, the Tillari project has cost Rs 1,612 crore and is due to be completed in 2012.