MARGAO: Villagers of Benaulim expressed anger over the excavation works on the edge of River Sal at Khareband, keeping the panchayat body in dark and later stopped the work.
On Thursday morning, locals noticed excavation work being carried out on the edge of River Sal, upon which they immediately informed the panchayat body and forced the contractor to stop the work immediately.
They were also shocked to see that the contractor concerned did neither have any plan nor permission to carry out the work.
Rudolf Barreto told reporters that locals found something unusual when they noticed the excavation work going on the edge of the river.
“We have immediately brought this issue to the notice of Village Panchayat Benaulim. We also found out the authority concerned is engaged in excavation to put up a sewage tank over here, but shockingly the contractor had no plan and permissions,” he informed.
He said, “The people have fear that affluent water will be directly released into the River Sal.”
Sarpanch Xavier Fernandes told reporters that the panchayat has asked the contractor to stop the work immediately and wants to find out the exact plans.
“We don’t have any objection to building the sewage tank, but want to know if the contractor is carrying out the work as per the proposed plans. As per our knowledge this is not the location for the sewage tank, and hence we have to verify the same,” he stated.
He said the current location being a lower lying area it will certainly affect the environment and panchayat will issue a notice to the contractor.
