PERNEM: The Korgao gram sabha witnessed ruckus over the issues of bad roads, water scarcity and constant power fluctuation, on Sunday.
When the meeting opened, the secretary read out the minutes of the previous meeting and later announced the agenda for discussion.
Addressing the gram sabha, the sarpanch informed that the panchayat has not been receiving tax from the people on time. “Even after sending notices, arrears of last 4 to 5 years are still pending. And to improve the financial condition of the panchayat, the professional tax amount has to be increased,” he said.
Following the complaint of the sarpanch, the gram sabha members asked the sarpanch to disclose the names of persons who have not paid house tax.
“There are many houses which are not registered and never pay tax to the Panchayat. However, instead of taking action on that, the panchayat wants to collect more tax from the people who are already paying their dues. We want to know why the panchayat is not taking action against those not paying house taxes?” a villager said.
And when the sarpanch insisted that professional tax has to be increased, the villagers shot back as to why they should pay tax in the first place when they are not getting any benefits.
“Why does the panchayat want to increase the professional tax and why should we even pay the tax when we are not getting any benefit in return. There are no proper roads, no proper water and power supply to run our day today business activities. First provide us with these benefits and then increase the tax amount,” a local shop owner said.
Highlighting the issue of bad roads, the villagers said that the roads are uneven and worn out making life of the people miserable.
“The authorities have failed to hot-mix the road on time due to which many people skidded with their vehicles and injured. Are the authorities waiting for people to die to take further action?” locals questioned.
Responding to this, the sarpanch informed that hot-mix has been tendered, however due to the rains, the work was not carried out.
However, to alleviate the sufferings of the road users, the gram sabha adopted a resolution to fill the potholes and stop road digging work till the roads are hot-mixed.
Meanwhile, the panchayat secretary read out the memorandum of the prime minister on water conservation.
Expressing their views on the request of the prime minister, the locals said that the panchayat should survey all the streams, bandaras, lakes and springs for ready reference. “As an when grants are received for developing the water bodies, the panchayat can take up the work promptly,” the villagers said.
It was also decide that all the wells in the village would be cleaned up.
Raising the issue of water scarcity, a villager said, “There are two tanks in the village, but there is no water in them. The MLA had visited the village last year and had ordered the department concerned to resolve the issue. But according to the PWD executive engineer, the panchayat has not sent its requirements.”
The villagers also complained that the operator appointed by the PWD does not release the water on time and manipulates water supply. Following this, the gram sabha adopted a resolution to hold a meeting with the operator to sort out the issue and fix the timing for each ward separately for releasing water. It was also resolved to write to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, DyCM Manohar Ajgaonkar and PWD drawing their attention to the issue of water shortage and request their intervention in the matter.
