PONDA: The issues of truck parking and open defecation by drivers along the National Highway at Curti once again rocked the Curti-Khandepar gram sabha on Sunday.
The gram sabha members complained that open defecation by drivers along the National Highway was a nuisance to locals. They also alleged that parking of trucks in the village compromised the safety of local women.
Gram sabha member Rocky Dias demanded that the panchayat control the truck parking menace. He said that thousands of trucks are parked along the road and that number of transport offices is also increasing, which are misused as godowns.
Dias said that since there are no toilet facilities available for the thousands of drivers, they defecate in the open. “This will lead to health problem in the village,” he warned.
He said that recently Dr Ketan Bhatikar of MGP cleared the truck parking at Curti, but slowly the truckers are coming back and parking their vehicles on the road. He demanded that the panchayat secretary stop the truck parking and use of transport offices as godowns.
The secretary said that the panchayat has given permissions to 13 transport offices only for administrative work, as such, the offices cannot be used as godowns.
The villagers also complained that the LED streetlights in the village have not been repaired, due to which the roads are in dark inviting to antisocial activities and theft.
They complained that the toll-free number provided by the electricity department for complaining about non-functioning of streetlights never attended to when called. Therefore, the villagers urged the panchayat to find a solution to the problem.
And, following a complaint by a villager that the land acquired by the panchayat for performing the finals rites of the Catholics, Hindus and Muslims has not been demarcated and allotted to them, the gram sabha adopted a resolution for demarcation of land for each of the communities.
The locals also demanded that the panchayat identify land for construction of a new panchayat house as the present one is inadequate.
The villagers further complained that since the panchayat has two offices, one at Curti and the other at Khandepar, and they remain open on alternate days, there is a delay in getting their works done. Therefore, the villagers urged the panchayat to appoint more staff so that both the offices remain open on all working days.
Claiming that the population of the panchayat is more than 20,000, the villagers demanded that it be bifurcated into Curti and Khandepar panchayats.
“This will also reduce the strain on the existing staff. Besides, the bifurcation will make the work easy and quick for the citizens,” a villager said.
Locals also demanded action against illegal scrap-yards operating in panchayat area.
Meanwhile, with the approval of the gram sabha, the panchayat hiked the fees and tax for businesses, houses, petrol pumps, commercial establishments, residential complexes, street vendors and kiosks under its jurisdiction.
The meeting was chaired by Sarpanch Dadi Naik.
