TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Amidst pandemonium and uproar, the Colva gram sabha ended abruptly over the controversial multi-purpose football ground issue after Sarpanch Snowkon Gonsalves decided to keep in abeyance a proposal to discuss the issue over Daaktem Tollem raised by the gram sabha members.
Snowkon’s announcement to adjourn the meeting triggered protests and uproar, with agitated gram sabha members refusing to leave the meeting venue even after the adjournment of the meeting.
Grams sabha member and social activist Judith Almeida slammed the sarpanch for the decision, terming him as a dictator, for adjourning the meeting and keeping the proposal for discussion on Daaktem Tollem in abeyance.
On the other hand, the sarpanch defended his decision to keep the proposal in abeyance on grounds that the acquired land is not a “Tollem” but paddy field. The issue created a storm at the gram sabha when member Juliet Rodrigues sought discussion on Daaktem Tollem, making an impassioned plea for its conservation. When Snowkon sought to know from Juliet what she actually meant by Daaktem Tollem, it drew protests from members opposing the football ground in the fields. A group of agitated gram sabha members rushed towards the sarpanch, accusing him of unnecessarily raking up a controversy over the proposal. A group of gram sabha members were seen demanding scrapping of the multi-storey ground in the acquired fields. At one point, the situation could have been worse as a group of members nearly came to blows, but better sense prevailed after the intervention by other members.
After calling off the meeting, a decision which completely took the gram sabha members by surprise, the Sarpanch told newspersons that Juliet had failed to prove that the said area was a water body, adding that available records only showed the acquired land as paddy fields. He further claimed that the gram sabha members did not allow him to explain reason for keeping the issue in abeyance
Snowkon further pointed that the Colva Parish Priest and the Church committee in 2005 had indeed given NOC and later collected the award for the land owned by the Church to have the playground in the fields. Panch Calvert Gonsalves wondered why the Church is now opposing the project when the Church authorities while seeking permission for construction of the school building had showed the area as playground.
“Last time around, the issue over the playground was taken up for discussions even though it was mentioned in Any Other Business. The Sarpanch avoided a discussion on the issue because villagers had come in large numbers to oppose the ground”, Judith Almeida said.
Judith demanded that the Chief Minister. Panchayat Minister, Director of Panchayats and other authorities should take note of the dictatorial behaviour of sarpanch and initiate action for “illegally” adjourning today’s gram sabha.
