BICHOLIM, OCT 31
The Mayem gram sabha witnessed noisy scenes over the issue of panchayat’s inability to remove the construction material dumped on the road throughout the panchayat area.
It may be recalled that during the last gram sabha, it was resolved to issue notices to all those who have dumped construction material on the road, thereby posing obstruction to the traffic.
At the gram sabha on Sunday, when Panchayat Secretary Shashikant Gawas started reading the minutes of the previous meeting, one Kamlakar Teli objected to it on the grounds that the minutes were written in a distorted manner.
Teli sought to know on what ground was his name included as a person, who proposed to issue notice to those who obstruct the road. The secretary was asked as to who had raised the issue and whether the minutes are written in a proper manner.
Teli objected to the fact that his name was written as the one who proposed the resolution.
“I do want that the material be removed, but you cannot indulge anyone as a person who recommended it. It seems you are targeting me when the issue was raised by someone else,” added Teli.
Since most of the houses in Mayem are close to the road, the people dump building materials on the road, thereby causing problem to the public.
When the issue of minutes was brought to the notice, the villagers got furious at the behaviour of the secretary and demanded that he should immediately write the resolution and read it out to the public.
The villagers also sought to know why material was still lying on the road and if the panchayat has issued notice to the concerned party. Some villagers suggested that the panchayat should confiscate the material lying on the road throughout the panchayat.
The villagers also threatened that if no action is taken in this regard, then they would be forced to block the road.
“We will block the road with the help of the same laterite stones and sand, which is now lying along the road,” the villagers threatened.
The panch members assured that they would issue notice to the concerned persons and get it removed.
There was a heated discussion over the issue of RDA work and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS).
The villagers accused the panch members of misappropriation and demanded police complaint in this regard.
The villagers got furious when the secretary read the resolution passed by the panch member against police complaint.
Panch Tulshidas Chodankar claimed that they have received a circular which stated that if the panchayat is unable to handle the funds, the government would withdraw the funds.
After much discussion, it was decided that no complaint should be filed as the development was at stake.
The issue of mining also came up for discussion and it was decided to call the mining companies for discussion on November 10 and 11.
The villagers supported the decision that the panchayat should approach the tourism department for the purpose of upgrading Mayem Lake and proposing to divert the tourists to the lake. They also proposed to do away with the entry fees to the lake.
