THE GOAN NETWORK
CANACONA
Residents in Cotigao accused the panchayat of shoddy pre-monsoon works, missing documents and the rampant corruption at the Gram Sabha.
It was a rare occasion in the Cotigao panchayat, a village in a rural part of Canacona, as members raised several issues during the three-hour meet from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm.
Several members raised the issue that forming of various committees had been futile as these committees failed to work for the purposes they were formed.
“These committees should have been working on five major issues, namely the public and forest related committee, biodiversity committee, health committee, education committee and agriculture committee in this panchayat area, but not a single committee is working in this place,” shouted one member.
“In Cotigao, many things related to handicrafts can be done in a community set-up, and after taking notice of it, this panchayat was given a special award by the tourism department, but the panchayat went on to block projects like manufacturing eco-friendly jaggery,” the member stated.
Every year, the panchayat undertakes substantial pre-monsoon expenses to clean both sides of the road. But even after this expenditure, work to clear trees on both sides and cleaning drains to enable the flow of rainwater has not been done.
The locals claimed that the panchayat had laid cement footings on the roads at many places by spending lakhs of rupees, but the pipes burst within two days.
A controversy also erupted over the construction of a well in Baddem ward, with villagers alleging it was not built at the original place.
Villagers made a strong demand for the immediate commencement of the Watershed project of about Rs 70 lakh at Kuskem, which is pending from 2022.
Stating that Cotigao panchayat is considered the poorest among all panchayats in Canacona taluka, members expressed their views that the panchayat should take initiative to do small businesses or carry out some tourism activities to raise people’s economic conditions.
Many villagers including Kalpesh Gaonkar, Devidas Gaonkar, Umesh Gaonkar, Sudhakar Gaonkar, Mahesh Gaonkar, Jeevanand Desai and Paik Velip participated in discussions at the Gram Sabha.
Deputy Sarpanch Poonam Gaonkar, Panch members Krishna Gaonkar, Vrunda Velip and Jayesh Gaonkar were present on the dais along with the Sarpanch Anandu Dessai, while an officer from the Block Development Officer was present as observer besides the Panchayat Secretary.
