Areal locals warn govt over failure to meet water demands of farmers
TEAM HERALD
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MARGAO:The Sao Jose de Areal village gram sabha on Sunday warned that the government that the villagers will not sit quite if irrigation water is channelised to the Verna Industrial Estate without meeting the water requirements of the village farmers.
At the gram sabha held on Sunday, agitated members and farmers warned that they will stop release of raw water for the industries at the Verna industrial estate if the needs and demands of the villager farmers are ignored by the government.
They pointed out that it’s now nearly 25 years that the government had laid the irrigation canal in Sao Jose de Areal, but water in the canal network is yet to become a reality.
Gram sabha member Peter Fernandes informed that the meeting has told the village Sarpanch to write a letter to the local MLA Benjamin D’Silva to take up the issue with the Water Resources Minister at the earliest and resolve the long pending demand of the farmers.
In another resolution, the meeting demanded that the Town and Country Planning department accept the Regional Plan adopted by the village panchayat.
Members warned that they will challenge in the court of law any decision which is contrary to the decision adopted by the village Panchayat on the Regional Plan.
The issue over the acquisition of additional fields for the expansion of Konkan railway station project also figured at the meeting. Members demanded that the KRC take up the issue with the farmers and the Panchayat body before going ahead with any land acquisition.
The meeting also demanded that the government appoint a gram sevak at the village panchayat for the implementation of schemes for the ST population.
