MAPUSA
Parking of vehicles on roads has become the biggest headache for the villagers of Bastora who on Sunday’s gram sabha asked the panchayat to take immediate action on the nuisance and remove the cars parked on roads in the village.
The locals have also demanded creating awareness on garbage management as people were seen dumping waste all along the fields and by the roadsides.
Expressing their ire on parking of cars on roads, several members of the gram sabha said local residents who have bought cars have no parking space and therefore park their vehicles on roads thereby blocking smooth movement of traffic and inconveniencing the locals.
“People are parking their vehicles on roads without giving a thought about the inconvenience it causes to neighbours. Sometimes five to six cars are parked one after the other on the roadside,” a gram sabha member informed.
Another villager complained that in the past a resolution was passed to declare the road in her area as no parking zone but people continue to park their cars by the roadside much to the annoyance of the neighbours.
A local, Jerry, informed that parking of cars on the roadsides has become a huge problem in the village and the panchayat needs to step in and take immediate action to stop the nuisance before it goes out of hand.
“Many people in the village have bought vehicles but have no parking space and therefore use roads for parking. The authorities should make it mandatory to ensure that people buying vehicles have parking space within their compound,” a local said.
He said the panchayat should take suo motu action against such nuisance instead of asking locals to give complaints in writing.
“If we complain against our own neighbour it simply creates ill-feeling between us. The panchayat should act in such matters on its own in public interest,” he said.
Responding to the concerns of the gram sabha members, Panchayat member, Subhash Moraskar said the panchayat will carry out site inspection of areas where parking takes place and send the report to the traffic police for necessary action.
Stating that tackling waste was becoming a big problem, John Lobo, a resident of Bastora said garbage dumps along roadsides and fields gave a shabby look to the village.
He said the panchayat should work on creating an awareness campaign on garbage management and explain to people how to sort out and dispose of the waste.
“The panchayat members should first discuss the matter among them on how they are going to tackle the waste issue and then explain to the residents of the village. We will help the panchayat in getting the locals for the awareness meeting,” John said.
Several other residents also pitched in to describe the sorry state of affairs vis-Ã -vis the garbage problem in the village.
