MARGAO
Issues about sewage, the absence of a flyover at the Davorlim, besides the issues on stray dogs and river Sal came to the fore during the visit of Environment Minister Aleixo Sequeira to the Navelim constituency as part of the Panchayat Chalo Abhiyan programme.
The Environment Minister assured that he would return to all four Assembly constituencies to see the follow-up action after the Lok Sabha polls.
At Davorlim village, the residents raised the issue of hardships being faced by the villagers over the railway crossing. They pointed out that since the frequency of the trains running on the tracks has increased, the railway crossing is closed several times a day, putting the villagers in great hardship.
The Minister assured the villagers that he would take up the issue with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, reminding that local Navelim MLA Ulhas Tuenkar had raised the issue on the floor of the Assembly. The Minister also assured the villagers of Rumdamol that he would take up the issue of removing Rumdamol village from the Fatorda power sub-division with Power Minister Ramkrishna Dhavlikar.
At Navelim, the Environment Minster was faced with the issue of the long-delayed sewerage project. He, however, pointed out that he has taken up the issue with the Chief Minister, who also holds the PWD portfolio, adding that the Chief Minister has presided over a meeting with the PWD officials to expedite the sewerage projects in Margao and Navelim on a war footing.
Referring to the claim made by Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas that he was not invited to the Panchayat Chalo Abhiyan at Navelim last week, the Environment Minister termed it as a lie. “My office had called up the Benaulim MLA, but he did not take the call or call back. A WhatsApp message was later sent to Venzy,” he said.
In fact, Sequeira openly invited AAP Velim MLA Cruz Silva for his tour of the Velim constituency on Tuesday morning.
