Team Herald
PANJIM: Claiming that Divar is not getting proper water supply for the last few days, Sao Matias villagers demanded that the village panchayat write to the government that it is opposed to the bridge being proposed in Divar.
They opined that the bridge will be constructed for the builders lobby. They pointed out that the issue of basic facilities like water supply and roads are not being addressed but the government is talking about construction of bridges.
They asked the panchayat to send its objection to the bridge to the department concerned.
The gram sabha also discussed issues like shopping complex, underground cabling work, panchayat ground, hall, bus service and ferry service among others.
When the issue of issuing No Object Certificate (NOC) was discussed, the villagers said that permission should neither be given for swimming pools nor for borewells. The villagers told the panchayat not to allow laying of underground cables in the manner they are being laid in Panjim as part of Smart City works.
Dominic D’Souza, a villager, said, “The village feast will be celebrated on the 2nd Sunday of May. So it will be better if the works are completed well in advance.”
This proposal was accepted by Sarpanch Anuradha Volvoikar.
The villagers also pointed out that while the resolutions are being passed by the gram sabha there is no follow-up and felt that they were only wasting their time by attending gram sabhas.
They demanded that all the three ferries should ply between Divar and Old Goa continuously. The locals questioned if these ferries can ply during Exposition then why not now?
The villagers also demanded that the existing diesel-run buses be replaced by electric buses and a charging station be made available by the panchayat. They said the shopping complex has been inaugurated, but it is not yet put to use.