Says hill-cutting continues despite show-cause notices
CANACONA
Complaining that illegalities are on the rise in the village, the Loliem-Polem Gram Sabha on Sunday said the panchayat should not remain as a mere spectator and called on the local body to act tough to stop illegalities in the village.
With the Election Code of Conduct coming into force for the Lok Sabha polls, no development works were taken up or discussed in the Gram Sabha. Members had reportedly expected the discussion on Film City and one more mega project to come up for discussion in the Gram Sabha.
At the Gram Sabha, residents cried foul over unabated hill-cutting activities in the village, despite informed authorities concerned.
“There have been a series of hill-cutting activities in the village in recent years, and many of these activities were reported to the government’s flying squad. However, except for momentary halts, these hill-cutting activities resulted in excavating large quantities of earth and destroying the village ecology,” remarked a member, Prashant Pagi.
Other members claimed no one knew the outcome of show-cause notices issued to the violators.
“Under these circumstances, we villagers feel helpless and unable to stop malpractices taking place before our very eyes. Neither authorities nor the panchayat body pay any heed to stop these illegalities,” complained another villager.
Pagi claimed that Loliem-Polem Panchayat cannot remain a mute spectator and reminded the elected body that it is duty-bound to act tough against hill-cutting activities in the village.
Villagers also questioned Sarpanch Nisha Chari over the absence of the Talathi at the Gram Sabha. The Sarpanch replied that a letter would be issued to the Talathi to remain present in all future Gram Sabhas.
Dy Sarpanch Chandrakant Sudhir, other panchas, the panchayat secretary and BDO observer were present at the Gram Sabha, while one panch was absent. Sameer Naik, Manoj Prabhugaonkar and Santan Costa were among those members who took part in the discussions.
