MAPUSA
A group of alert locals along with panchayat members stopped an alleged illegal hill-cutting activity in the Uccassaim village on Saturday.
The villagers said that the contractor was carrying out the illegal act taking advantage of the weekend.
What alerted the locals was the sudden movement of trucks which were transporting mud from a construction site in the village.
“When locals informed us about the activity the Sarpanch Richa Salgaonkar along with the secretary and panchayat members conducted a surprise inspection of the place and found hill-cutting taking place behind a construction site,” said Alphy D’Souza, a panchayat member of Uccassaim-Paliem-Punola panchayat.
He said the villagers then informed the flying squad which arrived at the spot and conducted an inspection of the site.
“When the officials of the flying squad asked for permissions for the hill-cutting the supervisor could not do so. Except for the site plan they had nothing to show,” D’Souza said.
According to the panchayat member, legally they were allowed to cut a hill with a gradient of 2.5 metre but in this case they went beyond that.
The flying squad will now prepare a report of the incident but in the meanwhile the supervisor was directed to stop the hill cutting activity at the site.
