VALPOI: Seven years ago, a memorial for the freedom fighters of Dhave village was built by the local panchayat.
The memorial was named as ‘Swatantra Veer Smarak’.
However, even seven years after its completion, the memorial is yet to be inaugurated. The memorial was constructed using the golden jubilee fund given to the panchayat.
The villagers say that politics within the panchayat has delayed its inauguration.
The villagers also accuse the sitting panchas of not working for the people, but for their own personal benefit.
“Thirty-two villagers from Dhavem fought for freedom. So we built a memorial for them. The Belgaum-based Heda family gave us the 600 square metres of land to build the memorial for our village freedom fighters. And using the golden jubilee funds, we built the memorial. It was completed the seven years ago. But our Nagargao panchayat is not ready to inaugurate the memorial,” former Dhavem panch Ashok Joshi said.
“We will discuss the inauguration issue with our MLA Vishwajit Rane, after which, we will inaugurate the memorial,” Nagargao Sarpanch Laxmi Harwalkar said.
