PERNEM: The Warkhand-Nagzar village panchayat has unanimously passed a resolution to close down all the bars and liquor shops in the panchayat and also to stop issuing licenses to new shops in the future. On Wednesday, Sarpanch Gauri Joshalkar told reporters, “In order to safeguard the identity of the village, the panchayat will shut down the liquor shops which come under our jurisdiction.
New shops will not be given licenses either. After conducting a study and consulting legal experts, we will see if the existing shops can be shut down too.” She added that 11 bars currently operate in the area and that the panchayat was receiving Rs 20,000 in revenue from the existing liquor stores in the village.
“There is not a single bar in the village of Warkhand, but Nagzar and other areas which fall under the
jurisdiction of the Warkhand-Nagzar panchayat, have some bars and liquor shops. We are working towards a liquor-free village in the near future, and I appeal to villagers to support the cause,” said Joshalkar.
The members of the gram sabha convened on Sunday were also of the opinion that infrastructure giant GMR Group should pay them a construction fee for their newly-commissioned airport at Mopa, as well as for their upcoming projects under construction in the jurisdiction of panchayat.
“We wrote to GMR about this two months back and are following up. If the
panchayat gets the construction fees for these commercial projects, then
it will increase the revenue of the village. If we consider even one percent of the project cost, then we should get a revenue of at least Rs 25 crore,”
said Deputy Sarpanch Vasant Naik.
