Team Herald
CALANGUTE: Calangute is known for its coastal villages and is famous for its beach but due to its tourism potential the once fishing village is turning bad and disturbing reports of drugs and prostitution are emerging.
Calangute is gradually becoming an urban village due to rapid urbanisation and the hotel and restaurants playing loud music beyond stipulated time is causing nuisance and noise pollution to the residents. To add to their woes the government’s decision to bring all four villages of the constituency under Outline Development Plan (ODP) has caused tremendous anger to the villagers.
Demanding to denotify the four villages of Calangute, Candolim, Parra and Arpora-Nagoa from the North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA), the Calangute Constituency Forum president Premanand Divkar said that inclusion of four villagers into the NGPDA has resulted in total unplanned development. The inclusion of these villages has to be denotified and a proper policy has to be framed for sustainable development.
Divkar said that rapid urbanisation and rise in constructions activities has put local infrastructure under enormous pressure. For last seven years the ongoing work of laying sewer lines is not completed. He said that since Calangute is famous for beach, its natural resources need to be developed. But unfortunately the vision of the elected representatives was to convert the coastal village on the lines of Thailand.
According to former Parra sarpanch Benedict D’Souza said, Calangute is today facing drugs and prostitution menace and taxi operators issue. He said that all internal roads were in bad state while, some areas in the constituency were experiencing water shortage and load shedding.
