WEDNESDAY, JULY 03, 2024
Team Herald
ASSAGAO: The Assagao gram sabha on Sunday thoroughly discussed and debated on three vital issues affecting the village namely the club issue, partial demolition of a house and the bad roads. Since the first two issues are before separate courts, no much discussion could take place but still the villagers did not hesitate to give vent to their feelings.
The rescheduled April gram sabha initially got delayed due to power failure and started an hour late.
After reading the minutes of the last gram sabha, Sarpanch Hanumant Naik informed the villagers about various development projects and other important issues to be taken up.
Assagao-Badem Citizens Action Committee convenor Surendra Gaad highlighted the harmful effects of the upcoming club and said that the whole village was united in opposing the club. He sought to know the latest actions of the panchayat on the issue after having made various correspondence between the committee and the panchayat and sought to also know the status of the club.
He was supported by Einstein Barretto who said that under certain sections, the panchayat was duty bound to spell out its action plan. However, sarpanch Naik informed that presently all options are being explored by the panchayat and even the director of panchayat would be approached not to give any approval to the project.
Gaad also informed that the committee was pursuing its legal course along with the panchayat and now since the matter is before the director of panchayats, every attempt would be made to ensure that it gets scrapped else the higher courts would be approached.
There was a heated argument between a gram sabha member Kedar Kamat and sarpanch Hanumant Naik over the Agarwadekar house demolition issue with the sarpanch declining to discuss the matter much as it was under investigation and Kamat directly accusing the panchayat of playing fraud in the case by fraudulently giving house number to Agarwadekars.
Meanwhile Einstein Barreto raised the issue of opposition to section 39A of Town and Country Planning (TCP) Act and said that under the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, the panchayats were supreme and the government cannot act bypassing the panchayats and on any policy decision affecting villages such grassroot bodies should be taken into confidence. He sought a resolution to oppose this amendment.
Another issue which prominently figured was absence of water supply and bad roads. Villagers felt that to lay a new water pipeline, the PWD had dug the road and today while from the existing pipeline there was no regular water supply on the other side. It was a nightmare to drive on these potholed roads which had become accident traps.
Other major issues discussed were roadside parking, open discharge of sewerage by hotels on public roads , an illegal helipad, notifications for restricted speed limit in certain wards , stray cattle.
About the bad roads, the sarpanch informed that as a temporary measure, he would do soling of the roads through panchayat funds to make these roads motorable as even local bus operators were also refusing to ply their buses on these roads.
The Sarpanch said, “We had asked the PWD and Electricity Department to give work to the panchayat but they were not giving. Recently they have given the order. We got this order just two days back.”
