TEAM HERALD
OLD GOA: Agitated villagers of Corlim on Sunday demanded that the notices issued by the panchayat to over 100 houses in the church property at Mangaddo and Dhulapi wards for demolition be revoked.
At the special gram sabha, the agitated villagers forced the seven panchas to admit their mistake for sending notices without taking the two ward panchas and locals into confidence while issuing notices to over 100 houses at Mangaddo and Dhulapi wards to demolish the illegal structures in the property reportedly belonging to the archdiocese.
The villagers also asked the panchayat to note down the resolution on the resolution book, which was written by Panchayat Secretary Oswin Mascarenhas, and signed by all the seven panchas stating that the panchayat made a mistake of sending notices to the villagers concerned without discussing the issue with panchas concerned and taking the locals into confidence. The panchayat admitted its mistake by signing the resolution book.
The villagers also demanded to revoke the notices sent by the panchayat with immediate effect.
It may be recalled that special gram sabha was called by Corlim Panchayat over the issue of issuing notices to over 100 houses to demolish the illegal structures in the property belonging to the Archdiocese.
Over 300 residents attended the gram sabha which witnessed noisy scenes as the residents demanded to know from the panchayat why notices were sent to over 100 houses at Dhulapi and Mangaddo.
It may be recalled that in a letter dated August 31, from the office of the procurator of the Archdiocese, the Corlim Panchayat was asked to demolish the illegal structures and houses in the property concerned. The panchayat was also not to issue NOC to release water and electricity connections and not to regularize the illegal constructions and houses in Archdiocese properties.
President of Sateri Devasthan Dhulapi Shamba Sawant asked the panchayat to inform the villagers if any RTI documents are sought in the matter in future and it should be brought to the notice of ward panch, who in turn will inform the villagers and then the villagers could decide on it.
Inacio Lopes Pereira said: “Such issues have never taken place in our village and all the seven panchas are responsible for the mess. We hope such things are not repeated in future.”
