MARGAO: The State government came under heavy criticism for its stance on the Velim church raid case that has been dragging on and its decision to go ahead with the Defence Expo against the wishes of the public.
It maybe recalled that the panchayat had passed resolutions calling for an early resolution of the Velim church case and had also resolved to oppose the Defence Expo. It maybe recalled that Velim panchayhat joins Betul, Fatorpa and Quepem municipality that have voiced their opposition against the Defence Expo.
Villagers also asked for updates on the dengue cases that had hit the village recently while an NOC for the jetty at Baradi for traditional fishermen was granted. Locals wanted to know the status of the plan for the Cutbona jetty expansion and the sarpanch said he would file an RTI to get details on the tenders.
With regard to dengue, the locals wanted to know what steps were taken to prevent dengue, to which the sarpanch stated that the pancahayat is monitoring the same and no new cases were reported of late. He added that they were on high alert and in touch with the health department who had visited the site and carried out fogging to eradicate mosquito breeding sites.
On the church attack case, Velim locals are upset that 20 locals have been called three times now by the court, with no progress being made whatsoever. The court is still verifying the names, the villagers complained and expressed displeasure at the “insensitive of the government”. The locals had demanded that the case be resolved before the first hearing and a group of locals had even met the chief minister in the past for the same demand and the village parishioners had a candle light march as well. This had been raised at the last gram sabha.
