Team Herald
MARGAO: The Assolna gram sabha besides constituting committee to prepare the Coastal Zone Management Plan and the Village Biodiversity Committee also resolved against permitting any cruise vessels operating from the old ferry ramp in the village.
The gram sabha that was totally disorganised with anybody talking on any issue at any moment including points that were not there in the agenda and actually coming under any other business was literally akin to villagers discussing in the market place.
AVC Traditional Fishermen Association’s president Remedios Crasto asked the panchayat not to allow any tourism related vessel to operate from the old ferry jetty in the village that is no longer being used due to the construction of the Assolna to Cavelossim bridge.
Sarpanch Xavier Almeida agreed to the proposal and got the gram sabha to adopt a resolution to that effect.
Following former panchayat member Savio Fereira’s suggestion, it was decided to form a committee to prepare the Coastal Zone Management Plan for the village and accordingly a committee was constituted.
However the Sarpanch was asked to write to the Secretary and Minister for Environment seeking some time to submit their suggestions and comments on the CZMP to give the committee time to prepare their work.
The gram sabha also reconstituted the Village Biodiversity Committee as the one constituted earlier had not even met once. The 12 member committee includes civil servant Levinson Martins who hails from the village and has been associated with Pollution Control Board earlier.
The Sarpanch disclosed that they are seeking to get the Sports Authority of Goa to allot 500 sq mts of land belonging to them behind the abandoned government school premises where the panchayat wishes to set up the garbage segregation unit.
He admitted that the market waste has not been collected for some time as the person who was cleaning it is sick and hospitalised and urged the villagers to name any person who would undertake the task.
The villagers suggested various things to improve the market area like introducing a garbage sentinel scheme, not allowing four wheelers to come near the market etc. The Thursday market was discussed heatedly with some people demanding that it be closed as there was no benefit to the village and was actually a nuisance due to the garbage problem it causes.
A villager Maurice Diniz in a lengthy discourse listed out various things the panchayat should do to avoid disasters like flooding and also for water conservation. Besides, he raised the issue of cattle menace troubling the villagers as there are around 300 abandoned cows moving aimlessly in the village.
