pernem: Kasarwarne village panchayat’s gram sabha which was presided over by newly elected sarpanch Avni Anil Gad turned stormy after panch members failed to satisfactorily answer the questions raised by the villagers. Villagers also tried to lock up the panch members when an announcement was made to adjourn the meeting but the police who were already present at the venue intervened and brought the situation under control.
The previous gram sabha which was held on October 29 was also adjourned and was continued on November 19.
The meeting began at 10.30 am and the majority of the attendees had to stand out due to insufficient space.
Local Upendra Naik raised a crucial question as to why the panchayat did not arrange a bigger hall which led to heated discussions between locals and panch members since they did not answer properly.
The situation aggravated when sarpanch Avni Gad responded with “I do not know. Did you remember about it only after I became the sarpanch?”
Upendra Naik then cornered the panchayat members with a barrage of questions stating that he did not get any response from the panchayat despite complaining about it days ago. He also brought it to the gram sabha’s notice that the panchayat’s website is not updated and there are no details available about panchayat’s financial matters.
Another local Uday Mahale reminded the panchayat of the promise that MLA Pravin Arlekar and Mopa airport officials would be present for the meeting. The sarpanch said that Arlekar is out of station that is why he could not make it to the meeting. Mopa airport comes under the jurisdiction of Kasarwarne panchayat.
Meanwhile, former sarpanch Atmaram Keni accused that one of the panch members has been accepting money to legalise illegal constructions and claimed to have the recording of the conversation. The panchayat members called the police inside during this chaos which is when Sarpanch announced the adjournment. Keni tried to lock up the panchas inside but police intervened.
