CANACONA
Khola Sarpanch Pradnya Kamat led a delegation from the village to petition Chief Minister Pramod Kamat on Saturday, seeking his attention to various grievances affecting the coastal village.
Khola was one of the few villages in the country adopted under the prime minister’s ambitious Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) for development as a model village in 2014.
The delegation, which included Prashant Kholkar, Jairam Pagi, Eknath Pagi and Gautam Kamat, met the chief minister of Goa at the Ravindra Bhavan in Sanquelim
The delegation complained about poor mobile network issues and sought the urgent installation of a mobile tower at Matvemol.
They also sought the reconstruction of the weak Saleri Bridge, claiming that three inspections have been carried out but there has been no progress. They feared that should the bridge collapse, it would disrupt normal life for the thousands of people from the twin villages of Khola and Agonda.
Other demands included the construction of a Hindu crematorium in Khola, installation of water-filters at every water plant, urgent repair of the water tank at Kajumol area, extension of water pipeline at Matvemol, construction of roadside protection barriers at seven different sharp dangerous curves/turns, erection of road signboards at different places, provision of free wifi facility and starting a KTC bus service from Khola to Margao and back.
The delegation also thanked the chief minister for resolving the main water pipeline demand from Kudai to Kajumol within 6 months of placing the demand.
In November 2012, then South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar had selected Khola village for development as a model village under SAGY.
While making a formal announcement after a special Khola Gram Sabha on November 16, 2014, Sawaikar had said the village would witness a sea change within a year. He had further informed about the formation of nine committees of villagers to take up different issues.
However, residents claimed the Khola village still struggles for facilities and have begun making efforts to seek the government’s attention to get their pressing issues resolved.
