ANIL SHANKHWALKER
PILERNE
Land had been acquired in Pilerne for a playground, but hurdles have stalled the project and as a result, the residents have now got a ground for a different purpose – dumping garbage.
The panchayat and the local MLA are, however, hopeful that the matter would be resolved with the intervention of former chief minister and Union Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.
The foundation stone for Pilerne Panchayat ground was laid on May 9, 2013, by Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Ramesh Tawadkar in the presence Tourism Minster and Saligao MLA Dilip Parulekar. During that programme, Tawadkar had assured that the playground would be completed within two years.
However, it is over a year now and work on the playground is yet to be started, as the Town and Country Planning (TCP) department has raised objections to the project. With the project having stalled, people have now started dumping garbage along the ground.
According to officials, the TCP at Mapusa had issued a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the Pilerne-Marra Panchayat to acquire 23,700 sq mtrs of land on April 1, 2009, with conditions.
The conditions included permission for filling of low-lying land, which should be obtained with prior permission of the chief town planner under Section 17-A of TCP Act. The panchayat was also asked to ensure the construction of necessary rainwater drains to avoid water logging.
The process of acquisition began in 2012 and the land was handed over to the Mapusa Block Development Office by the deputy collector (Revenue/Land Acquisition officer) on October 11, 2013.
The Pilerne-Marra Panchayat then applied to the Mapusa deputy collector to fill mud on the proposed playground on January 9, 2014 The deputy collector forwarded the application to senior town planner on January 27 to take necessary action in the matter.
The deputy town planner forwarded the application along with their remarks to the chief town planner and a senior town planning official voiced caution over the project.
“The area is low-lying and marked as eco-1 fields as per Regional Plan 2021. The area of 23,700 sq mtrs requires huge amount of mud for filling and the area is surrounded by fields on all sides, except for one part, where the panchayat office is situated, which appears to have tenants and it is not advisable to allow such huge eco-sensitive area (paddy field) for filling,” stated the official in the remark.
Following the objection, work of the playground did not start. When contacted, Pilerne-Marra Sarpanch Rupesh Naik said they have not received any reply from the TCP so far.
“We have taken up the matter with the former chief minister Manohar Parrikar through the Tourism Minister and Saligao MLA Dilip Parulekar. The youth have been playing football on this field for several years and football tournaments are also being organised. Hence, the panchayat is confident that TCP will grant permission for the development of playground,” said Naik.
Parulekar said he had already spoken with former chief minister Manohar Parrikar to resolve the matter.
“He had instructed TCP to grant approval to the project. There are some people who have been raising their objections to any development work and are hampering progress. There is no good sports complex in Pilerne and surrounding areas. The playground is the need of the hour for the youth of Pilerne-Marra and I will see that their dream is fulfilled,” assured Parulekar.
