State ignores its agri policy, hands over 3.3L sqm irrigation land to casino firm

Panaji: Two months aftergovt’s much avowed Goa State Amritkal Agriculture Policy, 2025 was introduced to revitalise farming and make the state self-sufficient, chief minister Pramod Sawant-led govt with a stroke of a pen on Wednesday denotified 3.3 lakh sqm of the Tillari command area at Dhargalim to pave the way for Delta Corp Ltd, a casino gaming company, to set up an integrated resort.The integrated resort project that will come up at the command area of the Tillari irrigation project comprises three hotels, a convention centre, a multiplex, a retail area, a water park, banquet facilities and a children’s entertainment area, among others.In addition to handing over the land that could be irrigated, state govt also waived off Rs 5.5 crore sought by the water resource department, terming it as “notional”.The proposal to denotify 3.3 lakh sqm of the notified command area was moved by the Goa Investment Promotion and FacilitationBoard (Goa IPB).The Tillari irrigation project is an interstate project taken up at a cost of Rs 1,465 crore to irrigate a command area of 14,521Ha in Goa. The dam is located in Maharashtra, and the canals are constructed in Maharashtra and Goa.Water from the dam is supplied for irrigation and drinking purposes through two canals, namely the Left Bank Main Canal (LBMC) and the Right Bank Main Canal (RBMC).The LBMC supplies water to an area of 10,267Ha, which is spread across the talukas of Bicholim and Bardez, while the RBMC irrigates an area of 4,254Ha, which is spread across Pernem taluka.Govt has notified 14,521Ha of land under the command area development and water resources management programme of the Tillari irrigation project, under Section 17 of the Goa Command Area Development Act, 1997, and Rules 1999.In 2022, the state cabinet resolved to declare 3.8 lakh sqm in Pernem as an investment for Delta Corp without consulting the WRD or seeking inputs from it.On April 17, 2023, the Goa IPB issued a conversion sanad for 3.3 lakh sqm, while 40,000sqm was excluded from the conversion sanad. Fees amounting to Rs 28 crore were paid by Delta Corp.In less than a month, on May 9, 2023, Goa IPB cleared the proposal from Delta Corp seeking it as an investment promotion area for setting up an integrated resort development.On Feb 9, 2024, the Goa IPB issued a licence to Delta Corp for setting up the integrated resort development with a construction fee of over Rs 10 crore for a final area of 3.3lakh sqm. It also submitted a proposal to the WRD to denotify the land parcel.The conversion of land was done under the Goa Land Revenue Code and also granted technical clearance under the town and country planning (TCP) regulations. This was permitted only upon the applicant paying an amount of Rs 28 crore towards the conversion fees.“Therefore, there is no loss as such to the WRD of Rs 5.5 crore for which they sought a waiver, as the applicant company compensated govt towards the change of user by more than five times the amount spent by govt,” the cabinet said.