TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: With the village rocked by the spate of burglaries and robberies in recent times, community patrolling and strict tab on tenants have been mooted by authorities and residents alike to keep burglars at bay in Navelim village.
This was decided at a meeting convened by Fisheries Minister and Navelim MLA Avertano Furtado on Sunday which was attended by South Goa Collector Venancio Furtado, South Goa SP S M Prabhudessai, Margao DySP Mohan Naik, PI Sudesh Naik, Navelim sarpanch Frank Fernandes and parish priest Fr Jose Roque Gonsalves, besides villagers.
Villagers expressed concern over the rising thefts and called for strict verification of the tenants staying in the village. A resident of Fradilem said that the locality has been converted into a mini-Rajasthan given the huge presence of migrants and their movements late night.
Navelim villager George Barretto said that residents of Sinquetim had in the past formed a committee to track down migrants staying in the locality, but lamented that the exercise had come in for opposition from landlords. He suggested formation of a village committee comprising youth to tackle the situation.
Fisheries ministers Avertano expressed need to form a village force to patrol the village under supervision of police. He underlined the need to carry out strict verification of migrants residing in village and promised to soon convene a meeting to constitute a committee of locals to assist the police in carrying out patrolling.
District Collector Venancio Furtado reminded the Panchayat that section 153 of Goa Panchayati Raj Act mandates the payment of tax to the village panchayat for renting out premises, but lamented that the provision is not strictly implemented.
He called for checking movement of unknown persons late at night.
