the goan I network
MAPUSA
Surge in illegal constructions became the talking point at the Moira gram sabha on Sunday, even as the acting sarpanch tried to fend off charges of complicity for issuing permissions to illegal constructions in the village.
Locals criticised the panchayat for throwing caution to the wind and issuing license to a construction project on the banks of a rivulet in the village.
A villager pointed out that the owner had failed to keep any set back as the construction was coming up on the edge of the river.
A gram sabha member said another construction elsewhere in the village had encroached on comunidade land even as the local panchayat was turning a blind eye towards illegalities.
“Moira’s development has become synonymous with the number of constructions coming up in the village,” said Philip D’Souza, a resident of Moira.
He said the local panchayat has issued licence for construction and the owner went ahead and cut a hill.
“It appears to be a clear case of setting between the owner and the local panchayat,” the local alleged.
Denying the allegations, acting sarpanch Oswald Cordeiro said the panchayat was helpless against constructions which had permission from other government departments.
“The panchayat has not issued licence for hill cutting. If there is hill cutting going on then you should complain to the Town and Country Planning department,” Cordeiro told the gram sabha members.
He also said that if comunidade land has been encroached upon then the comunidade members need to approach the government to redress their grievances.
A local, Rui Da Gama questioned the panchayat’s audacity of sending the coastal zone management plan of the village to the government without taking the gram sabha into confidence.
The sarpanch informed that there was no time to call for a special gram sabha as the deadline to submit the plan was nearing.
In an effort to prepare the gram panchayat development plan (GPDP), the panchayat had invited a balwadi instructor, a self help group incharge and an official of the Bank of Baroda to explain about the various government schemes that were available with them.
The village panchayat’s bio-diversity committee chairman appealed to panchayat members and residents to help him collate data of various plant and animal life in the village.
