PONDA: Borim residents are irked over the long delay in constructing a crematorium at Deulwada. They have asked the sarpanch to urgently look into matter, and accordingly, initiate action against the contactor.
The villagers have been facing great hardships for many years due to lack of a crematorium. After repeated demands, the panchayat finally requested the Borim comunidade to allot land of 1,000 square metres for the construction of a crematorium. The comunidade also took cognizance of the villagers’ demands and allotted land at Deulwada to the panchayat in 2009. The gram sabha later passed a resolution to build the crematorium.
Deulwada local Sidhesh Borkar said that the construction work of the crematorium started in 2012. The crematorium shed was to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 7.96 lakh and was to be completed within a year. However, the contractor “unnecessarily” stopped the work soon after it began. He stated that the villagers have repeately demanded that the work be completed and had even passed a resolution for the same in July 2015, to no avail.
Borkar informed that the villagers have to take the deceased to the Ponda or Margao crematorium, which is far away. He said that those crematoriums were sometimes busy, and hence, the villagers have to return with the body. In such cirucumstances, he added, the villagers have to perform the final rites in front of their houses. He demanded that the panchayat and government look into the matter urgently.
According to former sarpanch Sanjay Gavde, during whose tenure the initiative for a crematorium was started, the crematorium work was stopped as the Devari family from Borim has claimed ownership of the land that was allotted by the comunidade; the work is pending as the matter is subjudice.
The Devari family has claimed that the land on which the crematorium is being constructed belongs to them and the panchayat has no right to it. They also claimed that they owned the land for many years and had documents to prove it.
However, Borim comunidade president Sunil Sawkar has rubbished the family claim and said the land belongs to the comunidade. He said the land was in survey 127, and out of 47,000 sq mts, 1,000 sq mts had been allotted to the panchayat for the crematorium after following the legal process. He stated that the comunidade would continue its legal battle over it.
