Team Herald
SANGUEM: A careless error has led to the construction of a balwadi in Netravali’s Bandwada ward being held up for over a year now, as the owner of the land has objected to the project.
The foundation stone for the balwadi was laid in August 2021, by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant. The work was then outsourced by the Netravali Village Panchayat to a private contractor, at the cost of Rs 12.93 lakh.
Locals said that when the contractor commenced with the construction, the work was stopped by a local landlord, who alleged that the construction was being carried out in his property. Incidentally, before undertaking the construction, the panchayat had obtained a No Objection Certificate from the Education Department, for the construction of the Balwadi on a portion of a plot owned by the Department. However, when the panchayat marked the area for the balwadi building, it wrongly demarcated it on the adjoining private property, instead of the property owned by the Education Department.
Since then, the contractor has informed the panchayat that he cannot carry out construction work at the earmarked site, as the landowner has raised objections. Recently, local panch Rakhi Prabhudessai Naik pushed for a site inspection, which was conducted with the assistance of a surveyor from the Mamlatdar Office, Sanguem, who confirmed that the plot identified for construction was within private property.
Naik said that the panchayat could still undertake the construction in the Education Department- owned property, as a small plot of land measuring around 89 sq mtrs is vacant.
The panchayat has reportedly issued a notice to the contractor, since the landowner has not filed any written objection to the project.
