There was chaos at the Salvador do Mundo gram sabha on Sunday, forcing police to step in and calm the villagers.
Porvorim
Tension broke out at the Salvador do Mundo gram sabha on Sunday when the proposed Ekoshim creek road and promenade development project, under Swadesh Darshan 2.0, was taken up for discussion. Police had to intervene to pacify the villagers.
When the issue came up, panch member Reena Fernandes explained that very little development has taken place in Salvador do Mundo in recent years. She said the proposed Tourism Department project is only for beautification and does not involve concretisation. According to her, the project presentation was given to ruling panchayat members on 23 July 2024 at Paryatan Bhavan. The panchayat had also written to the department’s project cell stating that its members supported the idea.
Fernandes added that the Tourism Department had asked the sarpanch to consult the villagers and share their feedback, but this was not done. She said she had been repeatedly writing to the department requesting that the project presentation be made in the gram sabha.
Sarpanch Bindiya Naik responded that photographs of the project were shown to panchayat members. The panchayat had requested officials to present the plan before villagers in the gram sabha, but no reply has been received from the department so far, she said.
The debate turned heated, leading to police stepping in to restore order. Finally, the gram sabha unanimously resolved to request Tourism Department officials to make a presentation of the project before the villagers.
The issue of garbage collection was also hotly debated. Panch member Dattaram Redkar pointed out that waste is scattered across the village, especially in Poithona, and stressed the need for daily collection. He noted that there are around 3,000 houses in Salvador do Mundo, but the garbage fees collected cover less than half the cost of collection.
Dinesh Dias suggested that the panchayat should charge higher garbage fees from commercial establishments.
