During a discussion, at a gram sabha, on the alleged menace created by the PMC at a site in Keri, the locals alleged that the municipality has not been treating the dumped garbage, due to which it has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes, maggots and insects. Also, a strong stench emanating from the garbage dump site, at Keri, has put the health of the people living in its vicinity at risk, the villagers claimed.
It is pertinent to note that, fearin health problems, the Curti Khandepar villagers have been strongly opposing a garbage treatment plant in Keri for more than a decade. However, the PMC is under the direction of the court to set up a garbage treatment plant on the land acquired by the municipality in Keri. The court had also directed the PMC to erect a compound wall around the site, first, and then construct a garbage treatment plant, before dumping garbage there.
Meanwhile, taking cognizance of the problem at Keri, the Goa State Pollution Control Board had recommended the Khandepar panchayat to approach the issue legally.
Meanwhile, the villagers also opposed parking of trucks at Curti which, which they claim, pose great risk to the safety and lives of people travelling on road.
There are neither industrial estates nor transport offices in the village and the panchayat was also not getting taxes from the vehicles, Santan Dais, a villager, said and questioned, then, “Why should the villagers face the problem of truck parking menace and traffic congestion at Amigos and Curti road on the highway?”
Parking of vehicles along the road has caused many accidents to the locals, including fatal ones, he added.
Sarpanch Deepa Naik said she would write to the RTO that villagers are opposing truck parking in the panchayat area and that the panchayat has no land for parking as asked by the RTO.
The villagers also demanded a speed breaker and zebra crossing at the dangerous Khandepar junction where thousands of students cross the road while travelling to the nearby schools.
