the goan I network
MAPUSA
The Verla-Canca gram sabha on Sunday admitted there was a serious problem of drugs in the village and unanimously resolved to meet and submit a complaint to the DIG of police in the matter.
A 5-member committee of villagers under the chairmanship of Sarpanch Milton Marques will meet the DIG on Tuesday and submit a complaint against the drug menace in the village.
Raising the issue at the gram sabha, local Vijay Redkar said that substance abuse was an issue and was attaining dangerous proportions in Verla-Canca.
“Some students were found doping in the shop and in the premises of a villager whose house is located close to the school,” Redkar said.
Another local informed that some Nigerians were operating around 500 mts away from the Don Bosco Open School at Naika-vaddo, Verla-Canca.
Some villagers disclosed that doping was also going on under cover of darkness in the commundiade building in the area. “Drug supply activity is also happening at Sonar-vaddo in Verla-Canca late in the evening. At least four street lights in the area are not functioning and these persons are taking advantage of the darkness to carry out the illegal activity,” said Aishwarya Salgaonkar, a villager.
Salgaonkar said locals from the area were living in fear as Nigerians roamed freely around the open school.
Sarpanch, Milton Marques admitted that the menace was going for quite some time and the management of the school had also brought it to his attention. “There is a serious problem of drugs in my village. We have decided to meet the DIG and submit a compliant against the menace,” Marques told The Goan.
He said the panchayat has received an official complaint from a local against the drugs issue. When questioned if any complaints were made to the Mapusa Police or to any other authorities before, the sarpanch answered in the negative.
The five-member committee of Milton Marques, Aishwarya Salgaonkar, Roy Fernandes, Zacharias Mendes and Felix DeSa will meet the DIG on Tuesday.
