MARGAO
Shocking it may seem, but true that 72 out of the 89 panchayats in South Goa district did not send their developmental plans to the District Planning Committee (DPC) to prepare a draft-district development plan.
Perhaps for the first time in the last two years, the DPC figured prominently at the meeting of the South Goa Zilla Panchayat chaired by Chairperson Suvarna Tendulkar on Wednesday, wherein it was mentioned that the majority of the panchayats failed to submit the developmental plans to the DPC.
Tendulkar later told the media that given the situation, the ZP members from South Goa will visit the panchayats in their respective jurisdictions with the plan format and get the local bodies to submit the plans.
The ZP Chairperson pointed out that out of the 89 panchayats in the South Goa district, only nine submitted their developmental plans in the prescribed format. She said another seven panchayats submitted their plans, but they were not sent with the format, adding that the remaining 72 have failed to submit the plans.
“The panchayats have failed to respond to the letter sent by the ZP CEO in December 2022. Again, the ZP CEO had sent a reminder in January, but 72 out of the 89 panchayats have failed to send the plans,” Tendulkar added.
The Chairperson said the ZP members have been requested to complete their visits to the panchayats with the prescribed plan format by April-end.
The meeting of the South Goa Zilla Panchayat on Wednesday saw members unanimously demanding that the government permit the Zilla Panchayats to carry out repairs of the Anganwadis and Balwadis craving for attention.
When the administration pointed out that the repair work carried out by the ZP has been objected to by the Department of Women and Child Development, the members requested the chairperson to write to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant allowing the ZPs to carry out regarding the same.
The South ZP also unanimously adopted a resolution demanding the reservation of seats in the Goa Legislative Assembly for the Scheduled Tribe community.
Raia ZP member Domnic Gaonkar raised the issue of inundation of the Arlem highway during monsoons and demanded that the ZP write to the PWD to take up the work before the rains.
Colva ZP member Vania Baptista called for the expeditious construction of a new building for the Colva traffic cell. She further said that traffic police presence on the roads to the iconic Colva beach should be restricted to one place, fearing that stopping and checking vehicles at 4-5 places will deter tourists from visiting the shore.
