SANGUEM
The panchas and residents of two wards in Uguem have criticised sarpanch Bharti Naik for getting the Gram Sabha to pass a resolution supporting the IIT on Sunday without considering the objections of villagers opposing the project.
Denouncing the resolution as a one-sided affair, which needs to be withdrawn immediately, the two panchas, Elvira Fernandes and Marcus Pereira, as well as locals in the two wards, claimed that they will not permit the IIT project in the village.
“Ours is an agrarian village and we will not allow destructive projects like IIT here. Since the project is on the threshold of being rejected from the present site, efforts are reportedly underway to get the project in Uguem village,” claimed Pereira.
“Villagers from Uguem are totally dependent on agriculture and the village is surrounded by agricultural farms and paddy fields. The government should think twice before making any attempts to get the project in our village.”
A villager Philip Furtado said Sanguem MLA Subhash Phaldesai could get the project shifted to Rivona or Netravali.
Furtado also sought to know how could sarpanch Bharti Naik get the gram sabha on Sunday to pass a resolution supporting the IIT project when the government itself was uncertain where the project would finally get sanctioned.
“In the absence of any defined place to set up the project, the resolution holds no value and needs to be withdrawn,” claimed Furtado, further adding that there cannot be a blank resolution as far as the site is concerned.
“There were more than a hundred villagers who had come to oppose the project but our say was not considered at the gram sabha,” claimed Furtado.
