Sewage violations flagged; p’yat assures action
Sarpanch Flavia Barretto fields questions from members at the gram sabha on Sunday.
MARGAO
Gram sabha members of Varca village panchayat on Sunday expressed their strong opposition to any more hotel resorts in the village, as the issue of discharge of sewage by the hotel establishments in the storm water drains dominated the meeting.
The meeting chaired by Sarpanch Flavia Barretto saw some members requesting the Sarpanch not give construction licence for three new hotel resorts proposed in the village. They pointed that Varca village is already playing host to eight hotel resorts, insisting that the village carrying capacity has already reached a point of saturation.
When the sarpanch pointed out that the panchayat has not received any file seeking application for a new resort, the members demanded that the panchayat should call for a special gram sabha meeting in the event the hotel promoter submits application for issuance of construction licence.
Sarpanch Flavia later told the media that the panchayat has not received any application for construction licence for a hotel project, saying the panchayat would stand by the people of Varca if they are opposed to more resorts in the village.
Activist Sohail Furtado claimed that as many as three resorts are in the pipeline in the village, as he demanded a stop to new resorts on grounds that the village carrying capacity has already reached a point of saturation.
The issue of sewage disposal by hotel establishments in storm water drains dominated the gram sabha meeting. Benaulim ZP member Luiza Rodrigues joined the gram sabha members in demanding action against the hotel projects discharge sewage in the drains in violation of norms.
The sarpanch said the panchayat had issued a notice to one of the hotels after an inspection and assured the gram sabha that it would take action against erring hotels for the violations.
Members also expressed concern over the mounting arrears of house tax and trade licences. Given that the arrears have touched a staggering Rs 34 lakh, members have demanded action to recover the dues from the defaulters, especially from the owner who have given their apartments on rent.
Panchayat member Solan Furtado pointed out that the panchayat is considering levying late fees on the defaulters before vetting the proposal with the Director of Panchayats.
