Locals allege village panchayat has cleared the project opposed by the gram sabha
TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Locals in Betalbatim have alleged that the village panchayat had cleared a housing project proposed by a Delhi-based party when the gram sabha had voted against the project.
Sarpanch Esperance Fernandes, however, denied the allegations and said the Panchayat would meet on July 12 to decide on the fate of the project.
Agitated villagers barged inside the panchayat ghar and demanded to know from the Sarpanch and secretary how the panchayat had cleared the housing project against the will of the villagers.
They pointed out that the villagers had in one voice in the past demanded scrapping of the project on a host of grounds, one of them being the road access of hardly six meters.
The villagers were in no mood to listen to the explanation dished out by the panchayat body, demanding that it immediately revoke the construction file by calling a special meeting of the body.
A villager Marcus D’Souza told media persons that the panchayat has approved the project when the gram sabha had voted against it. He said the panchayat has now promised to reject the file at its meeting scheduled on July 12.
Sarpanch Esperance Fernandes, however, later told media persons that the panchayat has neither approved the file nor has issued the construction license for the project. She said the project will be placed before the panchayat meeting scheduled on July 12.
“I cannot approve or reject a construction file. It has to be placed before the panchayat body,” she said and added, “The meeting convened on July 12 will discuss and deliberate on the issue.”
