Team Herald
MARGAO: The Curtorim Village Panchayat gram sabha on Sunday unanimously objected to setting up of the Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) camp on the land where the leprosy hospital is existing at present and resolved to unitedly fight against the government’s continuous efforts to change the use of land.
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The villagers demanded that something that would benefit the villagers like a nursing institute, an educational institute, a super specialty hospital, a fire station or even a botanical garden can be set up in the area instead.
Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco while pointing out that he had already objected to this proposal on the floor of the Assembly House and has been assured by the Chief Minister in the House that the panchayat would be taken into confidence over the government’s plans in the area.
He urged the people to remain united in their battle against the government’s plans.
He said, “The place could be used to set up a hospital like the Sardessai Hospital in Bangalore where super specialty treatment is given and which has a death rate of less than 10 cases per year.”
Gromicko Fernandes of Voice of Carminagar suggested that a specialised botanical garden along with the garden for butterflies, flowering plant and rock garden could be set up there as the ground water is quite high and water could be found by merely digging a well.
He suggested that one lakh square metres of the total 2.59 sq mts of land could be utilised for the botanical garden while the other area could be used for other purposes. One of the villagers, Shanu Fernandes pointed out that the Member of Parliament Francisco Sardinha, who hails from the same village had suggested setting up a cancer specialty hospital there.
Deputy Sarpanch Simon Barretto pointed out that in the past the Directorate of Health Services had refused to give 700 sq mts of land to construct a water tank and later on refused to give 500 sq mts of land to set up the Multi Refuse Facility for the village.
Former Zilla Panchayat member Moreno Rebello cautioned that the IRP Battalion would change the very demography of the village as that itself would emerge as one ward in the village while Lourdes Coelho suggested setting up a All India Medical Sciences Institute.
The villagers finally decided that at the moment they are opposed to setting up the IRP Battalion and what should be set up will be decided at a subsequent date.
