PONDA
A special Gram Sabha of Collem panchayat was held on Sunday under the chairmanship of Sarpanch Govind Shigaonkar.
The villagers strongly opposed the inclusion of Collem panchayat in Eco-sensitive zone.
The villagers voiced that the residents of Collem depend solely on mining and Dudhsagar visits for their livelihood.
The locals claimed that the Collem panchayat has been forwarding the resolution opposing inclusion of Collem in eco-sensitive zone since 2013.
But so far, the state government has not forwarded these resolutions to the Centre. The villagers were disappointed with this attitude of the state government.
The villagers opined that if the Collem village is included in the Eco-sensitive zone then the Dudhsagar business is likely to be closed forever.
They felt that mining too may not resume henceforth. In view of this villagers adopted a resolution to oppose the inclusion of Collem in Eco sensitive zone and demanded that the panchayat should ensure that the copy of this resolution is sent to the Centre promptly by the state government.
The former sarpanch of Collem panchayat Manish Lambore stated that construction activities will get affected in case the Collem village is included in Eco sensitive Zone.
Further tourists will not visit Dudhsagar if this business was affected.
Meanwhile, the villagers of Sancorda and Mollem panchayat have also strongly opposed the inclusion of their areas in Eco-Sensitive Zone in the gram sabhas held on Sunday.
