Residents of Vargan Bandwada inNetravali along with panchayat member Rakhi Naik discussing with forest officials. Captured by : The Goan
SANGUEM
Tension flared up at Vargan Bandwada ward of Netravali-Sanguem late Wednesday night after angry residents objected to the construction of a patrolling station by the forest department in a disputed property.
The villagers claim that the property, on which the department had laid the foundation to construct a shed, is under dispute and the matter is pending in the high court between the villagers and the forest department.
The villagers claimed that earlier in the day, they had stopped the department from undertaking work to construct the shed, but after some time department officials went back to the site and resumed the work, which further angered the villagers.
By late Wednesday evening, a large number of villagers gathered at the site and demanded the presence of senior officials from the forest department to resolve the issue. Ward member Rakhi Naik was also present at the disputed site.
It was only at about 10.30 pm that senior officials from the forest department reached the village. The officials insisted that the shed is only temporary and assured to remove the structure if the court ruling goes in favour of the villagers.
The villagers, however, did not accept the assurances of the officials and demanded that the structure be removed immediately and land restored to its original position.
The officials later tried to explain to the villagers that there was a direction for the department to construct the patrolling stations at strategic locations within the framed time limit.
However, the villagers remained firm with their demands and asked the officials to have a prior meeting with the villagers before they go ahead with the construction work.
It was only after persistent requests from Panch member Rakhi Naik that the forest officials agreed to stop construction work of the patrolling station till the issue was resolved with the villagers.
