The Goan: With the Baptista murder causing a major uproar inthe village, what are the steps being taken to ensure that such crimes do notrecur in what is generally a peaceful village?
Maria Monteiro: The major issue, as has been the case forages, is the shipyards. In the given case, the accused was an immigrantlabourer from one of these industrial areas who has not registered himself withthe police. This is a trend that is popular with the shipyards, as they do notenforce this need for registration. I have followed up with Police InspectorGurudas Kadam from Margao, and he has agreed to increase the number ofcheckpoints and patrols by night, as well as increase the enforcement ofregistration of labourers.
TG: Pollution levels are now higher in the water than theywere before. What has the panchayat done to ensure that these irregularitiesare curbed?
MM: An inspection of a few yards was conducted by thepanchayat along with the GSPCB, as recently as October 19. We have found thatthe shipyards indulge in several illegalities. These primarily include sandblasting in areas they are not permitted to do so, the encroachment of landthat does not belong to them, structures being erected in low land, and veryimportantly, there has been dumping of waste metal in Khazan Land. This land isused to harvest fish, which is then consumed by the people of the village.Needless to say, the harmful effects of consuming this contaminated fish couldbe catastrophic. Having observed these irregularities, we have issued noticesto the shipyards on October 29, and they will have to present their caseaccordingly.
TG: The Regional Plan has been a huge bone of contentionbetween the panchayat and the state government for a while now. What progresshas been made on that front?
MM: Sadly, none. We were promised by the government that ourviews would be taken into consideration when the plan was formulated so thatthe allocation of land could be followed in a certain manner. That promise wasnot honoured, and it is upsetting that as locals, we are not in a position toprotect our own land.
TG: A recent issue with hill-cutting has been a cause forlocals to bond together and start a movement on Facebook, to ask why thepanchayat has not taken this issue up with developers. What does the panchayathave to say in its defence?
MM: There is no case of hill-cutting as far as I’mconcerned. I have personally inspected the site, and while there has to be aclearance of a certain height to qualify as hill-cutting, this is well withinthe required guidelines.
