Gram sabha alleges bid to push village into Margao limits, hike FAR
Gram sabha members of the Davorlim village panchayat raise their hands to oppose the 3D land survey proposed in the village.
MARGAO
In a significant development, the gram sabha of the Davorlim village panchayat on Sunday unanimously opposed the 3D land survey proposed by the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records in the village.
Davorlim becomes the second village panchayat after Navelim to vehemently oppose the 3D survey in the village, fearing that the survey is being conducted to merge the villages into neighbouring Margao Municipal Council and the South Goa Planning and Development Authority for the benefit of builders.
This was decided at a special gram sabha called by Sarpanch Menino Colaco in view of the public notice issued by the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records informing members of the public about the 3D survey.
During the gram sabha, members Andrew Rebello raised his apprehensions that the survey is intended with the sole objective of merging Davorlim village into the Margao Municipal Council and to increase the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for the benefit of the builders.
He recalled that a similar attempt was made years ago to merge the Davorlim village into the Margao Municipal Council, but the move was scuttled by the villagers.
The gram sabha members unanimously objected to the survey by show of hands at the meeting which saw a good turnout.
Sarpanch Colaco informed the members that he has decided to call for the special gram sabha after his attention was drawn to the public notice on the 3D land survey. “This matter has not been discussed at the body meeting. We will discuss the issue at the upcoming panchayat meeting. If need be, we will again take up the matter at the gram sabha meeting scheduled in February,” he said.
After the meeting, a gram sabha member wondered why only the villages surrounding the Margao Municipal Council has been shortlisted for the 3D survey when such a survey is not undertaken in rest of Goa, except in the municipal jurisdiction of Panaji, Margao and Cuncolim. “If the 3D land survey is indeed for the good of the people, the government should have held the survey across the State. This only goes to show the government’s ulterior motive,” the member added.
