CANACONA
The Congress and Goa Forward Party have raised questions over truckloads of logs being processed at the government-owned Carpentry Common Facility-Cum-Production Centre in Idhar-Loliem.
According to staff at the carpentry centre, the logs were brought to the unit some days ago and they were instructed by officials to process the wood as they were needed to build houses for the poor under the ‘Shram-Dham initiative’, a project of Speaker and Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar in Canacona.
On learning of this development, GFP Environment Cell Chairman Vikas Bhagat and Congress Leader Janardhan Bhandari visited the carpentry unit on Thursday and demanded an inquiry into the forest wood. They also accused Tawadkar of making use of the logs for personal use.
“We demand an inquiry by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane into this entire episode to find out from where these logs were obtained and who had cut the trees,” said Bhagat.
When pointed out that the wood was for houses built under Shram-Dham initiative, Bhandari shot back: “Hundreds of kind people have donated money in lakhs of rupees to build houses for the poor and needy under the so-called ‘Shram-Dham’. House construction materials have also been sponsored and other materials are being purchased from this money.”
When contacted, a staffer at the Carpentry Common Facility-Cum-Production Centre told reporters that he had been instructed to process the wood.
“When it was brought I had specifically asked for the ‘pass’ (licence) for this wood which we normally seek, but I was told there is no pass or anything as it has been brought in full knowledge of top forest officers and that, this is to be used to build houses for the poor people.”
Speaker threatens to file defamation case against Bhandari, Bhagat
CANACONA: Accusing GFP Environment Cell Chairman Vikas Bhagat and Congress Leader Janardhan Bhandari of telling blatant lies regarding the felled wood being processed at the government-owned carpentry centre, Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar threatened to file a defamation case against them.
“The wood has been obtained through legitimate auctioning of the forest department for the use of houses being built under Shram-Dham,” said Tawadkar, while reacting to allegations that he was involved in the processing of wood at the carpentry unit.
In a video on social media, Tawadkar said, “Everyone knows that we have begun to build houses for the poor in Canacona under the Shram-Dham scheme. To meet these needs, we decided to use the felled trees in forest department forests.”
“The wood which we have taken on auction was brought to the government carpentry and for the last two days, they are being processed. Some self-proclaimed leaders from Canacona went to the carpentry unit, where the wood for the Shram-Dham houses was being processed, disturbed the carpentry staff and accused me of bringing the wood through illegal means, thereby attempting to defame me.”
“We have obtained the wood legally and I will file a defamation case against these two persons to bring out the facts to the notice of the people."
Incidentally, two (Canacona RFO) forest receipts dated April 24 for Rs 38,500 and Rs 968 against the name of Ashok Velip of Gaondongrim (Canacona) towards the sale of fallen trees at Gaondongrim, and towards 2.5% income tax, respectively for the auction held on April 18 have been posted by staff at the speaker’s Canacona office.
According to staff at the carpentry centre, the logs were brought to the unit some days ago and they were instructed by officials to process the wood as they were needed to build houses for the poor under the ‘Shram-Dham initiative’, a project of Speaker and Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar in Canacona.
On learning of this development, GFP Environment Cell Chairman Vikas Bhagat and Congress Leader Janardhan Bhandari visited the carpentry unit on Thursday and demanded an inquiry into the forest wood. They also accused Tawadkar of making use of the logs for personal use.
“We demand an inquiry by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane into this entire episode to find out from where these logs were obtained and who had cut the trees,” said Bhagat.
When pointed out that the wood was for houses built under Shram-Dham initiative, Bhandari shot back: “Hundreds of kind people have donated money in lakhs of rupees to build houses for the poor and needy under the so-called ‘Shram-Dham’. House construction materials have also been sponsored and other materials are being purchased from this money.”
When contacted, a staffer at the Carpentry Common Facility-Cum-Production Centre told reporters that he had been instructed to process the wood.
“When it was brought I had specifically asked for the ‘pass’ (licence) for this wood which we normally seek, but I was told there is no pass or anything as it has been brought in full knowledge of top forest officers and that, this is to be used to build houses for the poor people.”
Speaker threatens to file defamation case against Bhandari, Bhagat
CANACONA: Accusing GFP Environment Cell Chairman Vikas Bhagat and Congress Leader Janardhan Bhandari of telling blatant lies regarding the felled wood being processed at the government-owned carpentry centre, Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar threatened to file a defamation case against them.
“The wood has been obtained through legitimate auctioning of the forest department for the use of houses being built under Shram-Dham,” said Tawadkar, while reacting to allegations that he was involved in the processing of wood at the carpentry unit.
In a video on social media, Tawadkar said, “Everyone knows that we have begun to build houses for the poor in Canacona under the Shram-Dham scheme. To meet these needs, we decided to use the felled trees in forest department forests.”
“The wood which we have taken on auction was brought to the government carpentry and for the last two days, they are being processed. Some self-proclaimed leaders from Canacona went to the carpentry unit, where the wood for the Shram-Dham houses was being processed, disturbed the carpentry staff and accused me of bringing the wood through illegal means, thereby attempting to defame me.”
“We have obtained the wood legally and I will file a defamation case against these two persons to bring out the facts to the notice of the people."
Incidentally, two (Canacona RFO) forest receipts dated April 24 for Rs 38,500 and Rs 968 against the name of Ashok Velip of Gaondongrim (Canacona) towards the sale of fallen trees at Gaondongrim, and towards 2.5% income tax, respectively for the auction held on April 18 have been posted by staff at the speaker’s Canacona office.
