Panaji: Fields very close to a settlement area at Dongorim in the Azossim-Mandur panchayat have been flooded due to ingress of saline water. Locals alleged that the water was flowing through an open sluice gate, most likely due to sabotage.The sluice gate of the Damda khazan of the neighbouring Neura village forms the border between the two panchayat areas. But the flow from it gushes through Dongorim creek and around the hill to the Cumbharjua canal. The sluice gate, which is a key mechanism to regulate tidal flow in khazan areas, had all its doors or wooden planks removed during the last couple of days.Paddy fields have been lying fallow for several years due to various factors. “This time, however, some farmers had cultivated vegetables,” a resident said.“There is a possibility of sabotage by those granted fishing rights by the tenants association committee,” Ramrao Wagh, convener of the Khazan Action Committee, said.The ingress of saline water in fields is a persistent problem owing to the alleged sabotage by sluice gate operators carrying out fishing activities in the vast khazan extending from Agasaim to Corlim.After Wagh’s complaint, an official from the Tiswadi mamlatdar’s office inspected the site along with the Agasaim police, committee members and the sluice gate lease holder.Mamlatdar Dattaprasad Toraskar later directed the tenants association managing committee to repair the sluice gate, and forwarded the complaint to the Agasaim police for investigation.“The mamlatdar has sanctioned Rs one lakh for repairs,” an official said. He has also directed the committee to approach the agriculture department’s soil conservation section for complete repairs.Wagh demanded that the sluice gate be sealed and no fishing activities be allowed till repairs are completed.
