Team Herald
PONDA: Few years ago, the Marcaim gram sabha had opposed donation of around three lakh square metres of land to a religious trust in Goa for construction of its Muth on ground that villagers have no land for housing and development works.
And it was the turn of Querim villagers to oppose donation of land for construction of a Muth at Arla ward of the village, on a similar ground on Sunday.
At the Sunday’s gram sabha, Querim villagers passed a resolution directing the panchayat to take the villagers into confidence before giving any licences for such religious muth and that the village land should be reserved for development works and for the future generations. The villagers also demanded whenever a mega project is proposed in the village, it should be placed before gram sabha.
In an hour long discussion, the Querim locals said that the proposed construction of religious muth at Arla on Comunidade land would be of no use to villagers.
The villagers became furious when they were told at the meeting that a land belonging to the local comunidade has been allotted to Jagadguru Shankaracharya Shrungeri Muth from Karnnataka. They said that in 2008, they had proposed that the same land be reserved for development works, cattle pound, garbage plant and playground.
The villagers claimed that there are several landless tribal and other back ward class people who are not getting land to construct houses. The villagers were indignant that instead of allotting land to these landless poor, the comunidade land has been allotted to the muth.
Later, the 150-member strong gram sabha unanimously passed resolution not to grant construction licence for a protection wall around the 62,000 square metres of land acquired by the Muth Trust.
The villagers were angry that the comunidade has not yet provided land for a school which they had demanded in 2002, and further land for cattle pound and development work is not yet allotted by the comunidade.
The meeting was chaired by Sarpanch Anisha Gaude.
