‘Revoke Bhutani licence’ cry gets louder in Sancoale panchayat

Sarpanch abstains from meeting as war of words breaks out; ruling panchayat members insist on seeking legal opinion on Bhutani Infra’s reply to show cause, but the opposition wants the project to be scrapped without delay
‘Revoke Bhutani licence’ cry gets louder in Sancoale panchayat
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Team Herald

VASCO: There were noisy scenes at the fortnightly meeting of the Sancoale village panchayat on Friday, after the panchayat decided to seek legal opinion on the Bhutani Infra’s reply to the show cause notice, much to the chagrin of the opposition panchas and villagers.

A war of words broke out between ruling and opposition panchayat members even as the sarpanch abstained. The villagers and activists present could not hide their frustration and demanded that the panchayat should withdraw the construction licence and scrap the controversial project.

The meeting, chaired by Deputy Sarpanch Derick Vales, discussed the listed agenda and took the reply of M/s Parmesh Constructions Company Limited (Bhutani Infra) to the show cause notice last at 2 pm even as villagers waited.

According to some panchayat members, the reply was lengthy and full of legal jargon. What was also shocking was that the project proponent had levelled allegations of bribery and blackmailing tactics against some panchayat members.

Vales said, “We are not experts in legal matters, and the language used in the reply was complicated. That’s why we decided that it would be best to seek legal advice from two lawyers before taking any further steps.”

However, Opposition members and the restive villagers reiterated their demand that the village panchayat revoke Bhutani Infra’s construction licence immediately. “They (Bhutani) don’t have the necessary clearances like environment clearance and NOC from the PWD (water supply section)," claimed panchayat member Tulshidas Naik.

Despite the commotion, the ruling members declared the meeting over and walked out of the office leaving Opposition members and villagers fuming. The opposition panchas claimed that the meeting was incomplete and inconclusive.

Naik said that they had requested the panchayat secretary to take up the Bhutani’s reply first for discussion so that the villagers could go home early. But the meeting was stretched for more than three hours. But when the Bhutani issue finally came up for discussion, the ruling panchas and the secretary chose to walk out rather than revoke the construction licence much toi the chagrin of the people.

Naik recalled that the panchayat had earlier stated that it would revoke the license if the Bhutani Infra fails to produce the valid approvals. But the ruling panchas walked out of the meeting realising that the project proponent had no requisite permissions.

On the other hand, the deputy sarpanch claimed that they completed the meeting as per the agenda and also discussed the Bhutani Infra’s reply to the show cause notice. According to Vales, there were certain points in the reply and since the panchayat members are not qualified to address them, it was decided to seek legal advice.

On September 25, after the villagers stormed the panchayat office, the Sancoale village panchayat issued show cause notice to M/s Parmesh Constructions Company Limited, asking it to comply with the Mormugao Planning and Development Authority (MPDA) regulations including submission of necessary documents and NOCs within seven days.

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