Team Herald
MARGAO: The Varca gram sabha discussed many issues under “Any Other Business” on Sunday including charging parking fees to picnickers visiting the beach. The villagers were informed that the Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) is being prepared for the village.
The meeting took note that the vehicles going to hotels disturb the locals.
Sarpanch Shalini Pereira allowed villages to raise issues affecting them even though they had not given any written notice about it. One such issue was raised by Francesca Fernandes who said that she was facing hardships from the vehicles going to the hotels.
She said that the big buses very often end up breaking down the electricity cables thereby depriving her of electricity. Besides, she said, sometimes the buses enter her compound by opening her gate which amounts to criminal trespass. “At times I am alone at home and fear these entries in my compound,” she said.
The panchayat was then asked to write to the management of all the hotels in the village to advise their vehicle drivers not to disturb the local people and not to enter their compound.
Another villager Elvino Furtado suggested that all the shops along the route be asked to install CCTV cameras to keep a record of the vehicles plying on the route.
A villager Roque Fernandes proposal to levy parking fee on picnickers coming to the Varca beach was debated with panchayat member Reginaldo Rodrigues objecting to him dominating the gram sabha and comparing the village to other villages.
Roque had pointed out that many tourist places like Calangute, Vagator and Canacona are levying parking fees on visitors and suggested that the same exercise be undertaken in Varca where vehicles coming from outside Goa be made to pay the fees.
He argued that the money thus collected could be used to maintain cleanliness on the beach which is otherwise very dirty with the leftover food rotting and stinking. Some other villagers castigated Drishti that is given the contract of keeping the beach clean.
They alleged that the Drishti staff collect the waste from the beach and dump it in private properties which are then covered with sand thereby creating an artificial sand dune there.
Some villagers also questioned why the earlier practice of collecting money from visitors was stopped and said that earlier the beach used to be kept clean as the visitors used to take away their wet garbage while the panchayat would collect their dry waste for which they were given two bags to separate their garbage.
Roque Fernandes also pointed out that many houses and buildings are releasing their sewerage in the open fields nearby that can be gauged by the stink emanating from the fields and asked the panchayat to conduct a survey of this and even offered to give the panchayat the names of people who are doing this.
The panchayat informed that they needed NOC from the comunidade to rebuild the lakes in the village.
and asked the Village Development Committee members to help prepare the action plan for water conservation, harvesting and reuse as directed by the BDO.
Elvino Furtado who is helping in preparing the CZMP informed that Turbo Sketch is in the process of preparing it after photographing the village with a drone and said by Tuesday the plan should be ready following which he would present it to the villagers for further discussion.
