While the villagers of Goltim-Navelim were busy preparing ‘nevreos’ and distributing their ‘Kunsvar’ amongst their neighbours and close acquaintances, the Goltim-Navelim village panchayat was busy in constructing the Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in its property in total violation of the Construction Rules in force with less than a metre setback to the neighbouring property belonging to the Confraria of Nossa Senhor do Redemptor and facing the Lord Redeemer’s Chapel coming under the parish of Our Lady of Piety Church.
From the positioning of the said construction, it appears that there is no approval from any of the authorities concerned. It is to be seen how the payments will be effected to the contractor in absence of such mandatory approvals and which authority is going to approve the same.
The construction is the result of the instructions by the Goa Government and the High Court of Bombay at Goa to have MRFs in place within the stipulated deadline. The village panchayat instead of identifying a site for the MRF project and pursuing it even to the extent of going in for a land acquisition, if necessary, has indulged in this shortcut method by flouting all norms in a bid to evade disqualification/penalties. The law abiding authority itself is indulging in such malpractices and setting a bad precedent towards the progressive/healthy development of the island.
When residents of other villages are raising their grievances regarding construction of MRFs in their localities, the villagers of Goltim/Navelim in general and the various associations are in deep slumber in protecting their interest and in a way least bothered about the imminent disaster in the guise of development. Let better sense prevail.
