TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: The Macazana gram sabha held on Sunday witnessed a heated debate between two groups of villagers over the issue of mobile towers in the village.
It may be recalled that the special gram sabha convened by the Macazana sarpanch Thereza Almeida e D’costa was earlier adjourned as BDO allegedly failed to depute observer and the same was held on Sunday.
At one point, the situation at the meeting seemed to be going out of control when an aggrieved villager rushed towards Panch Francis D’costa seated on dais. The duo almost came to blows before gram sabha members intervened and brought the situation under control.
After a prolonged debate on the issue of towers, villager Santan de Costa moved a resolution demanding that the panchayat body take the advice from Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) and Health Department on the radiation effects, etc and place the report at a special gram sabha to be convened on later date.
Earlier, gram sabha members were informed by Sarpanch Thereza that two applications, from the Macazana parish priest and from Roque Jose Carvalho a local villager to have been received by the panchayat for permission to erect mobile tower in the village and that the same were put before gram sabha. On demand from the gram sabha members to know the proposed location of towers, church fabrica member Eng Lauriel de Costa informed that the proposal is to install tower at Saibiniche Molar, Macazana. However, Alvares Cardozo objected the proposal, stating that the tower, if installed, would destroy the beauty of the place though he supported to permit the church fabrica to install tower at other location.
Yet another villager Michael Estibeiro strongly objected move to have a mobile tower in the village expressing that radiation would cause harm and would be of no benefit for locals. After a prolonged debate on the issue the proposal moved by Santan was accepted by the gram sabha.
