PONDA: Kavlem Sarpanch Rajesh Kavlekar said the electricity department is allotting a meagre fund of Rs 1 lakh a year and it is not possible for the panchayat to maintain all the streetlights in the village with that.
Speaking during the gram sabha on Sunday, Kavlekar said all the nine panchas face a tough time in attending to the complaints of the locals in regard to repairs or replacement of non-functional streetlights and stressed for more funds by the government.
The Kavlem Panchayat on Sunday passed a resolution of its annual surplus budget of Rs 2,02,425.
Kavlekar said this time the panchayat collected house tax arrears amounting to Rs 18 lakh. He said they are paying around Rs 5,000 per month to People for Animal, an NGO working for animals, to sterilize and control stray dogs.
“Garbage segregation system is in place in wards 8 and 9 and during the last one-and-half months, about 2.5 tons of segregated plastic waste was given to Pollution Control Board,” he said.
“Grant of Rs 1 lakh received by the panchayat towards garbage collection annually is not sufficient and there is need for more collection,” he added.
He said after the nullah was constructed, many farmers who had kept their fields fallow were encouraged and now they have cultivated their fields. The vast agricultural field land is cleared of garbage and farmers will be encouraged to take up cultivation during the next season.
He said the panchayat was trying hard to provide toilets and parking facilities at Kavlem for tourists and regretted that despite being a tourism spot, the tourism department had failed to provide any fund to providing facilities for the tourists.
Kavlekar said the Kavlem Panchayat recently passed a resolution to oppose amendment to Agricultural and Tenancy Act and demanded to reinstate the original tenancy act in the interests of tenants and Mundkars.
