Orlim accepts VP 3 status
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, MARCH 29
Orlim villagers have settled for a VP 3 status for the village and have demanded reversion of wrongly shown settlement areas to original paddy fields in the draft Regional Plan 2021.
At the gram sabha meeting held on Sunday, the villagers also opposed increasing the width of the roads and called for a status quo on the existing road width.
The gram sabha members unanimously resolved that whatever the discrepancies and deficiencies pointed out by the village Panchayat of Orlim should be invariably incorporated in the draft Regional plan 2021. The villagers demanded hat the copy of the Regional Plan should be sent to the Panchayat to satisfy the people before the finalization of the plan.
The garbage issue also figured at the meeting with the members opposing a garbage dumping site for the village. They felt that the people should treat their own garbage, saying there is no need for a garbage dumping site.
Sarpanch Godfrey Rodrigues told newsmen after the meeting that the gram sabha have unanimously favoured VP 3 status for Orlim village.
He said the villagers have pointed out that around 61 paddy fields and 32 ponds have been shown as settlement areas for reasons known only to the government. In this context, the villagers demanded that the paddy fields and ponds be retained as they are and scrap the proposal in the Regional Plan.
Earlier, Chairman of the RP committee Patrick Cardozo was requested to address the Gram Sabha on the RP2021 progress he started with a proposition to acquire land for a Panchayat Ghar since the same now in use was on rent from the education department.
After he gave a brief on the fact that many of the fields shown as settlement including ponds and lakes were identified and marked he urged the Gram Sabha to take a resolution that all should be returned back to original status which was unanimous.
Kim Miranda brought to the attention of the Gram Sabha that much of the village were unaware of this regional plan as no one from the Technical committee had come to address the people, the maps provided was not 1:1000 as required for this exercises, neither ward maps presented nor the 2001 plan put up in the panchayat.
She further questioned why was it that the MDR road was shown incorrectly and as to why the PWD was not in a position to give internal roads maps and details as they are the ones that make all the roads and award the contract the Chairman was helpless as he said he too was having to cope with this situation and still work to meet the Government deadline.
