MARGAO
The controversial 28 bungalows approved by the Town and Country Planning department in the heritage village of Chandor took centre stage at the gram sabha meeting of the village panchayat of Chandor on Sunday.
The gram sabha, chaired by Sarpanch Estefan Dias, saw an agitated gram sabha demanding that the Chandor village panchayat immediately revoke the licence issued to the real estate developer.
A large number of people, including the residents of the area where the proposed bungalows have been approved by the TCP and the licence issued by the village panchayat, turned up for the gram sabha to question Sarpanch Estefan Dias and the panchayat secretary on how the panchayat issued the licence when the property in question has been in dispute.
The gram sabha also demanded to know from the chair how the panchayat failed to place the bungalow project before the gram sabha before granting the construction licences.
Exchanges ensued between the panchayat secretary and the members when the secretary insisted there is no provision in the Goa Panchayat Raj Act that construction projects need to be placed before the gram sabha. The villagers, on the other hand, insisted that the gram sabha had in the past adopted a resolution mandating the panchayat to place all mega housing projects before the gram sabha.
After lengthy discussions over the controversial issue, the gram sabha told the panchayat to revoke the permission issued for the 28 bungalows. When the gram sabha pointed out that work on the project is underway at the site despite the panchayat issuing a stop work notice, the members were assured that the panchayat would request the police to stop the work.
Sarpanch Estefan Dias later told the media that the panchayat would first write to the TCP about the complaints filed by the residents that the approvals for the project were obtained by the real estate developer by misrepresenting the facts.
