The Ponda Municipal Council has rejected the Defence Ministry’s proposal to buy 16,475 square metres of land bordering Kranti Maidan and has also refused a request to renew the lease for the military camp occupying the site in Curti, Goa.
The land houses residences for officers posted at the Army’s 6 Technical Training Regiment. The council’s decision was taken at a meeting held on Friday, according to Ponda Municipal Council chief officer Bhimnath Khorjuvekar, who said both proposals from the Centre had been rejected.
The Defence Ministry holds 16,475 square metres of the larger parcel, while the municipal council owns 2,530 square metres where it has constructed Kranti Maidan, a monument dedicated to the martyrs of Goa’s Liberation. The military currently pays about Rs 50,000 in rent for the land, with the existing agreement due to expire on December 18.
The land dispute dates back to the Portuguese period. Around 18,625 square metres at Sadar Ponda was taken over by the Portuguese administration on August 19, 1954, to establish a camp. After Goa’s Liberation, the site became the officers’ residence, also known as Camp 2 of the 6 Technical Training Regiment.
The municipal council, formed in 1971, began seeking the return of the land on January 30 that year. Following discussions and correspondence between the council and the Defence Ministry, the ministry proposed renting the land on October 18, 1973. The matter continued through subsequent negotiations involving the municipal and defence authorities.
On February 22, 1992, the council requested that the Defence Ministry return the land. After mediation by then Goa chief minister Ravi Naik, then defence minister Sharad Pawar returned 2,530 square metres to the council in 1992-93. That parcel was subsequently used for Kranti Maidan, while the Army retained the larger section used for the military camp.
The latest decision leaves the Defence Ministry’s land purchase proposal and lease renewal request rejected by the local civic body. The current agreement is scheduled to expire on December 18, while efforts to secure the return of the remaining land have continued over several decades.
