ASSAGAO: The Siolim-Sodiem gram sabha on Sunday came down heavily on the government’s move to open bars and wine shops near schools, colleges and religious institutions. The villagers vociferously opposed and chastised the government for selling the State for thirty pieces of silver.
The village Biodiversity Chairperson Peter de Souza charged that the government only wanted to fill its empty coffers at the cost of the public. “There are enough alcoholics and delinquents in the village who are nuisance to families and hard to handle. Most of them are school dropouts, drink heavily and create problems at home and in public. The government’s move to allow more bars near schools and religious institutions will only create more problems in society. We don’t need income from ill-gotten wealth,” said Souza.
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“If the government which is grappling with revenue figures and still gives revenue concessions in crores to GMR International, then it has no business to talk about raising revenue by issuing licences near schools and religious institutions,” stated Souza.
The resolution was then unanimously passed to a thunderous applause by the villagers. Sarpanch Deepa Pendekar and the entire panchayat body resolved to back the villagers on the resolution as it was a social evil.
Pramod Pednekar raised the issue of mushrooming of mega projects and suggested that they should compulsorily contribute to the corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund of the panchayat. “The government mandatorily use such funds for welfare projects such as education of the girl child and increased farming activity” said Pednekar.
Villagers demanded a ban on bore wells and called on the panchayat to conduct site inspections of all mega projects as it was leading to water scarcity.
The issue of construction of an illegal road over a nullah at Pilimbi ward was also discussed and the gram sabha members in one voice supported a resolution demanding action against the TCP officer who had permitted this road for the welfare of some builders for pecuniary benefits.
BMC Chairperson also tabled a resolution asking that the land acquired by Tillari be given back to land owners and charged that the project was a nuisance as it had destroyed hills and fields.
“The canal has turned into a death trap for animals and was lying idle, therefore he felt that the land should be taken back, fenced and used for cashew farming,” said the chairperson.
The Assagao demolition issue also had its shadow cast at Sodiem with the issue of presence of bouncers at prominent sites, said villagers.
The gram sabha members said that there were fraudulent sale deeds and mutations done overnight in GaunsaVaddo and Pilimbi and bouncers deployed by land sharks to frighten the day lights of original landowners andvehemently protested against the bouncer culture in their peaceful village and demanded for a SIT probe into illegal sale deeds.
Villagers then directed the panchayat to write to the Mapusa Police to conduct a site inspection of all anti-social elements employed as bouncers, check their credentials and submit an action taken reportto the panchayat within the next fortnight and also keep a close watch in the village.
“The bouncers keep getting a lot of visitors the whole night and one wonders whether these hide-outs are used for anti-social activities,” opined the villagers.
The issue of stray cattle was debated with villagers unanimously oppose the Kamdenu scheme stating that farmers were availing the benefits and abandoning their animals who in turn were turning to be a nuisance in the village.
Deputy Sarpanch Nilesh Vaingankar also supported the move and said that they would write to the goushalas to impound the stray bovines. The issue of fish farming, development, road access to farmers to their fields, and garbage tax was also discussed.
The gram sabha members also proposed that the village BMC should be taken into confidence while the panchayat was deciding on issuing licenses to mega projects as the village resources were already strained and reached a saturation point and also all projects violating CADA should be inspected and necessary action taken as was thought necessary.
