OLD GOA: The duplicity of the St Cruz panchayat authorities was exposed at the gram sabha on Sunday, as on one hand they failed to adopt a resolution to act against controversial construction at Bondvoll lake due to want of a seconder, while on the other, they passed a resolution recommending the inclusion of the village into the PDA without taking the villagers into confidence.
Taking the panchayat to task over its failure to act against controversial construction at Bondvoll despite assurance given on the issue, the villagers sought a reply from Sarpanch Mariano Araujo, who said he put the proposal at the fortnightly meeting but no resolution could be adopted as nobody seconded it.
When the villagers questioned the panchas present, some said they did not attend the said meeting while others said they were unaware of the issue. The opposition panchas, however, said as the ruling panel has eight panchas they should first support demolition of the structure, only after which they will follow suit.
As the meeting progressed, the issue of inclusion of St Cruz in the PDA was raised, for which the panchayat authorities have already passed a resolution without seeking opinion of the villagers.
Condemning the hideous move by the panchayat, villager Elsa Dias said the PDA is looking after the planning of municipal areas while TCP looks after planning for villages.
"Including St Cruz in the PDA will only lead to increase in construction activity, which in turn will bring more people in the village and put more burden on the already crumbling infrastructure like narrow roads, garbage and sewage woes, electrical and water supply, etc," Dias added.
"The builders will find it easy to approve projects in the village as the PDA would be headed by a politician," she further opined and demanded that the panchayat should revoke its decision recommending inclusion of St Cruz in the PDA so that the topographical diversity of the village is maintained.
The villagers also opposed plans of the government to nationalize rivers and expansion of coal handling in the State.
The proposed coal expansion is only for private profits and has no public interest at all. The costs of the coal expansion are unprecedented and catastrophic for Goans, while the benefits are only for a few corporations, the villagers stated in a resolution submitted to the panchayat and signed by over 100 villagers.
"The coal infrastructure will destroy rivers and sea beds by capital and maintenance dredging, which will cause massive destruction of habitats and highly eco-sensitive riverine zones. The loss of habitats and water pollution due to the coal handling will lead to total decimation of Goa's fish and marine populations and ecology," the resolution goes on to add while concluding that the infrastructure for the coal handling, storage and transportation will displace many indigenous farming, fishing and other traditional communities and will destroy many villages, and hence must be stopped.
Meanwhile, heated arguments broke out between a panch and a villager which threatened to derail the gram sabha as the villagers demanded the panch apologise to the villager for alleged use of abusive language, failing which they would not allow the gram sabha to continue. However, the gram sabha was allowed to go ahead after the villager asked the gathering not to pursue the issue further.
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Araujo had then agitated
against inclusion in PDA
OLD GOA: The last time when there was an attempt to include villages of St Cruz constituency in the PDA, a huge agitation had taken place in the constituency with the then MLA Victoria Fernandes even leading a rally against the then Congress government. And one person who was in the forefront of the agitation was current St Cruz Sarpanch Mariano Araujo.
Today, the St Cruz panchayat headed by Araujo has passed a resolution recommending inclusion of the village into the PDA, which has raised many eyebrows.
When The Goan sought to know the reason behind this sudden turnaround, Araujo stated that he did so because he thought it would bring in development in the village while stating that the resolution was adopted last month.
But when it was pointed out that not too long ago he was in the forefront of the agitation opposing inclusion of St Cruz villages into PDA, Araujo admitted that he committed a mistake as he is only human.
When questioned whether the decision was taken due to his closeness to the Goa Forward party, which had opened its office in the village recently, Araujo replied in the negative.
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Chinchinim raises demand for a
bypass at Dandeavaddo junction
THE GOAN NETWORK / MARGAO
The gram sabha of Chinchinim village panchayat has demanded that the government construct a bypass on the NH 17 to ease traffic congestion at the Dandeavaddo junction and taking into account the future traffic requirements.
The Gram sabha chaired by Sarpanch Flory Pereira also took strong objection to the circular issued by the Director of Panchayats mandating the Village Sarpanchas not to take up any issue not listed on the gram sabha agenda.
Sarpanch Flory told the media after the meeting that the gram sabha has adopted a resolution to request the government to go in for a bypass on the NH-17 at Dandeavaddo to avoid congestion along the narrow highway stretch passing through the village. She said that members were of the strong opinion that widening of the existing highway passing through Dandeavaddo would not serve the purpose in the long run.
Deputy Sarpanch Valentio Barretto informed that given that the centre is planning 4-lane and 6-lane highways north and South, prudence demands that the government take all the people into confidence before finalizing the highway alignment. He pointed out that a consultant appointed by the previous government had submitted an alignment showing a bypass road, starting from Sirlim, which implemented will avoid acute congestion on the Dandeavaddo road.
The esolution adopted by the gram sabha will be forwarded to the government to take appropriate action.
In the meantime, the gram sabha took strong exception to the Panchayat Director's letter mandating the sarpanchas not to take up any issue for discussion at the gram sabha if the same is not listed on the agenda. Members cried foul over the Panchayat Director's circular, saying the circular only aims at stifling the voice of the people who raise issues of public interest at the gram sabha.
The meeting also resolved to put in place a traffic management plan in view of the acute traffic congestion in the market area. It has bene decided to call the managements of the school, Traffic police and the panchayat committees to address the burning issue.
The presence of vendors and hawkers on the footpaths and blocking the pedestrians also came up for discussion. The Sarpanch promised the gram sabha that the vendors will be removed from the footpaths adding that the fish vendors will also be told to sit in the fish market after the necessary repairs.
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Move to nationalise
six rivers opposed
MARGAO: The Gram sabha of Chinchinim Panchayat on Sunday vehemently opposed the government to nationalize the six Goan rivers, including the River Sal, passing through the village.
The gram sabha members also opposed the proposed coal hub at the MPT and transportation of coal via rail and road.
The contentious issue, which had dominated at the gram sabha meetings of many Panchayat in Saclete, Mormugao and Bardez, besides other areas, figured prominently at the Chinchinim gram sabha on Sunday chaired by Sarpanch Flory Pereira.
Agitated gram sabha members pointed out that nationalization of the six rivers will take away the rights of Goan on these rivers.
