On Oct 3, 2015, Carmona Village Panchayat will deliberate and decide whether to revoke the controversial construction licence issued to Raheja Chrysalis for misrepresentation of facts. Villagers are awaiting with suspense and hope due to the support offered by three panchas and expecting the others will finally be guided by their inner voice to support the will of the people of Carmona against Raheja.
The Panchayat by issuing the controversial licence in spite of the objections and complaints regarding the same has virtually challenged the entire people of Carmona to a fierce duel without considering its repercussions. The village Panchayat of Carmona has belittled the villagers and made us realize dirty politics is a cancer affecting all in today’s world. Villagers wonder how issues like the validity of the Conversion Sanad, Existence of a public Cross and a well, narrow width of the road, reduction of FAR due to amalgation of plots, illegal site inspection of property without a resolution, hurriedly clearing of the Raheja file without any discussion and in secrecy, blocking of traditional access, bypassing the gram sabha resolution to place the Raheja file prior approval, not accounting for complaints and objections in writing to the Panchayat smells serious irregularities and ulterior motives in the clearance of the Raheja file by the panchayat.
The Carmona Panchayat has made a mockery of the gram sabhas by not honoring its earlier resolution to place the Raheja file for discussion which was destined to be rejected. The silence of the BDO and also that of the Director of Panchayat in this matter shows how even the higher authorities are behaving when the entire Panchayat Raj System in the State is in shambles and riddled by corruption of the highest order.
The Raheja issue has enlightened not only the villagers of Carmona but entire Goa about the ill wills and opportunism of the Panchayat Raj System.. The gram sabha also promises to be a high pitched drama and villagers waiting with bated breath and with a formidable resolve to reject Raheja Chrysalis at any costs. Today Raheja has succeeded in putting a deep wedge in the lives of the common man of Carmona by using the famous British era “Divide and Rule” policy. The joint site inspection by the TCP has confirmed serious irregularities in the approved plan to which the TCP officials were speechless and fumbling for words in front of the villagers.
The government has also miserably failed to develop infrastructure in Goan villages where some roads are very narrow with serpentine alignment decorated alongside by illegal boundary walls. Projects cannot be cleared based on imaginary proposed roads as envisaged by the High Court judgment when the ground reality is totally different. Before any big projects are approved in Goan villages necessary infrastructure needs to established in place for support. While the coastal villages have been saturated with starred hotels, the villagers suffer endlessly due to their heavy traffic on the roads and added inflation. It’s ironical to witness today Panchayats pushing Corporates for their own failures for village development which is their own primary responsibility under the Panchayat Raj Act.
Carmona is destined to set a precedent on Oct. 3, 2015 in its resolve to reject Raheja and sound the warning bells for other mega housing developers in Goa!
