CALANGUTE: The villagers of Calangute stayed up for a marathon gramsabha which continued for more than nine hours, discussing 19 proposals apart from the two and half hour long minutes of the previous meeting.
The long duration did not deter the spirit of locals who stayed back at the gram sabha to witness every bit of discussion, proposals, debates and resolution.
Sarpanch Shawn Martins informed that a total of 19 proposals were tabled at the meeting and the locals sort an answer to all the questions. He said that water and electricity are the two big problems the locals are facing and are a major issue in Calangute.
“We didn’t adjourn the meeting and it went on for nine hours without a single break. Some locals and panch members left due to other commitments while others took a short break and came back to the panchayat hall. Major decision was taken to stop issuing occupancy and construction license till additional power was granted as the locals are facing a lot of problem due to water and electricity,” Shawn stated.
He further said “When we stop certain things automatically everything will fall in place. The gram sabha complained that police has not been acting on touts, pimps and drug peddlers. In fact the police have failed in their duty to deal with the nuisance of drugs and prostitution being carried out in Calangute.”
A local, Premanand Divkar pointed out that the huge turnout and patient hearing of the people for so many hours at a stretch at the Calangute gramsabha shows their frustration.
