MARGAO
A proposal to set up a common burial ground in the village met with stiff opposition at the gram sabha of the Curtorim village panchayat on Sunday.
Gram sabha members also demanded to know whether the leprosy hospital land which was transferred to the Police department to set up a IRB camp, has been reverted back to the Health department.
The common burial ground facility had come up for discussion at the gram sabha chaired by deputy Sarpanch Jasmine Ferrao on Sunday, wherein members raised their reservations to the proposal. They demanded to know for whom is the common burial ground facility when the village has a cemetery for the villagers.
Curtorim MLA Reginaldo Lourenco, who attended the gram sabha said the proposal for a common burial ground was made by an NGO as per the Court directions that every village should have a common facility for the people.
He said the common burial ground could be set up at the old cemetery inside the Leprosy hospital complex on land admeasuring around 3,000 square metres. In this respect, he said a cemetery at the Leprosy hospital could benefit the people once the Our Lady of Carmel Chapel is elevated to a Church in the future.
The proposal, however, did not find favour with the gram sabha members. Member Moreno Rebello questioned the rationale behind proposing the common burial ground when the village has an existing cemetery. “The common burial ground will invite more trouble in the future. When the village has a cemetery, I don’t understand why there’s a need for a common burial ground in the village”, he questioned.
Deputy Sarpanch Jasmine Ferrao later told the media that the common burial ground proposal has met with strong opposition from the members. She further said the Panchayat will ask for clarity on the common burial ground proposal.
As far as the IRB camp proposed at the Leprosy hospital land, panchayat secretary Ankita Desai said MLA Reginaldo Lourenco has announced at the meeting that a decision will be taken at the Cabinet to revert back the Leprosy hospital land to take up public utility projects on the land.
