Salvador do Mundo p’yat files police plaint over hill cutting

On hearing the news, Salvador do Mundo Sarpanch Sandeep Salgaonkar, Ward Panch Hemant Borkar and Panchayat Secretary Amit Prabhu inspected the site.

Speaking to reporters, Salgaonkar said he was surprised to witness massive hill cutting activity.

“About 5% of the hill cutting % was done in the jurisdiction of Salavador do Mundo village without obtaining permission from authorities concerned, while nearly 95% of the hill cutting was done in the area of Pomburpa village.”

“The Salvador do Mundo panchayat has filed a complaint with Porvorim police station and Serula comunidade regarding the illegal hill cutting for the construction of a road at Salem. The panchayat has requested both authorities to investigate the matter and take necessary action,” said Salgaonkar.

“Most of the hills in Socorro have been destroyed by builders to construct residential projects, thereby spoiling the beauty of the village,” said a resident of Salai.

“Now, builders have turned their eyes on the hills at Salvador do Mundo and Pomburpa and hill cutting activities are rampant in these two villages. If such activities continue, Salvador do Mundo and Pomburpa villages will also turn into concrete jungles,” the villager added.

A number of hill cutting activities have been reported in Salvador do Mundo in the recent past.

In October 2016, the Salvador do Mundo sarpanch, panch members Vijay Dalvi and Roshani Savaikar had stopped hill cutting work at Ubbo Waddo in Kitla.

Later in April 2020, residents of Kitla were up in arms against the felling of trees in Serula comunidade property.

During a meeting at the time, the locals had condemned the government for not taking action against the builder who had cut 74 trees in the property to develop plots.