MARGAO
The Guirdolim gram sabha on Sunday unanimously resolved to oppose the August 20 notification proposing to include 11 lakh square metres of land in the village as Non-Developable Area (NDA).
The gram sabha, chaired by Sarpanch Sonia Fernandes, also raised concerns over official files going missing from the panchayat, including the Regional Plan file and the file related to the People’s Biodiversity Register.
Gram sabha member Savio Antao demanded that the panchayat install CCTV cameras inside the panchayat office for surveillance. He questioned how official files could go missing from the panchayat ghar and called for an exercise to locate the missing documents.
After the meeting, Antao told the media that the members had unanimously opposed the proposed zoning of 11 lakh square metres as NDA. He said the people whose properties were affected had not been informed about the proposal.
“When we spoke to the people whose properties are sought to be zoned as NDA, they had no idea at all. This is not acceptable when the panchayat had prepared the Regional Plan for the village in 2009,” he said.
On the CCTV cameras, Antao said the Sarpanch had informed the members that the file was pending with the Salcete BDO. “We have asked the Sarpanch to find out the status of the file. Otherwise, people from Guirdolim will all go to the BDO office to seek approval for the CCTV cameras,” he said.
Fernandes later confirmed that the Regional Plan and People’s Biodiversity Register files had gone missing from the panchayat.
She said members also raised concerns over non-functioning streetlights in the village.
