In the last five years, the Kavlem panchayat appears to be politically stable. The panchayat has witnessed a lone Sarpanch Rajesh Kavlekar in the nine-member body till date.
The panchayat’s source of income is through government grants, house tax and further collects Octroi tax from petrol pump located in village. However, when it comes to receiving grants from the government, the panchayat receives the same after a prolonged delay.
The panchayat is trying to make Kavlem a garbage-free village and is seriously planning to achieve it.
According to locals, Kavlem is developing slowly with an increase in its population. Some vendors are seen sitting by the roadside selling vegetables and fruits, fast food etc and hence a market complex in Kavlem is the need of the hour.
The panchayat is regular in holding gram sabhas. In the last one year, the major issues discussed at the gram sabhas were the villagers’ opposition to the proposed sewerage treatment plant in locality wherein they have demanded that the same be shifted out of the village that too in an isolated area. With the panchayat elections due shortly, the most panchas are keen to contest the polls again and hope to get re-elected.
Whether it is a lack of accommodation, insufficient parking space or even poor toilet facilities, tourists have often found themselves struggling to avail of these facilities around the famous Shantadurga temple in Kavlem.
Tourists flock to Kavlem but find basic facilities woefully inadequate in the area including toilet for which women are much inconvenienced. Beside traffic congestion at Kavlem is a major problem confronting villagers and tourists.
The abandoned tourist accommodation and restaurant along with Sulabh Shouchalaya of Tourism Department is gathering dust at Kavlem opposite the temple site.
The space could have been useful in providing basic facilities if it had been renovated.
The Government is neither using it nor demolishing the old structure, which occupies around 400 metres. The said land could be useful for parking around fifty buses if it dilapidated project is demolished from area, as there is shortage of space for parking leading to traffic chaos along the Kavlem road.
The tourist complex at Kavlem was a project of the tourism department and it was a hit for a few years. However, poor management and lack of maintenance led to its downfall and the same lies abandoned.
Tourists visiting the site face great hardship on account of lack of facilities such as parking, toilets and accommodation facilities,” said Kavlem Sarpanch Rajesh Kavlekar.
He informed that the tourist complex at Kavlem was constructed in 1996 and it included a restaurant, eight-bedded dormitories and toilets.
The restaurant has been closed since the past four years while the dormitories which were set up in 1996 were in use for only three years. Since then, the dormitories have not been used and same is the case with the toilets in the complex.
This project was built by Tourism Department to generate income for the government, but it has failed to achieve its target. If the Tourism Department Cannot run the complex, it should be handed over to the local panchayat, so that the village can generate some revenue.” said Kavlekar.
Kavlekar admitted that the panchayat had been unable to construct toilets at the site in the absence of an NOC from the temple committee. “The panchayat has sent frequent reminders to the tourism department, but they have failed to revive its abandoned tourist complex,” he added.
