Curchorem: Deputy collector of Sanguem Milindra Velip on Tuesday instructed the assistant engineer of the Water Resources Department (WRD) to arrange a presentation of the proposed bandhara at Mirabag for the agitating villagers, stating that no further steps should be taken until their doubts are cleared.
The instruction was issued during a special meeting convened by the official at his office in Sanguem, attended by representatives of the villagers — Aapa (Mangaldas) Naik, Sanket Bhandari and Upendra Naik — along with the Curchorem police inspector.
Bhandari told reporters that the deputy collector heard their grievances patiently and then instructed the assistant engineer, WRD, to give a presentation on the bandhara project and address queries of the villagers. “We want a public hearing so that all the facts will be clear,” he said.
Earlier in the day, Sanvordem ZP member Mohan Gaonkar visited the protest site and discussed the matter with the villagers. “Either the government should scrap the project or, after taking the villagers into confidence, go ahead with it,” he said.
Former MP Vinay Tendulkar also visited the villagers and said it was the first time he was seeing all the people of Mirabag come together and fight unitedly against the construction of the bandhara. He said the Sanvordem ZP member, the sarpanch and the deputy sarpanch were supporting the villagers and added that all stakeholders should be taken into confidence before commencing the work.
Sanvordem sarpanch Chinmayi Naik, who also visited the agitating villagers, expressed surprise over the commencement of the bandhara work without taking the villagers and the panchayat into confidence. She said the panchayat had initially issued a conditional no-objection certificate (NOC) for the project but later revoked it as the authorities failed to give a presentation of the project and in view of the rising opposition from villagers.
“We thought that the matter is closed but it was surprising to note that the construction work has been forcibly started,” she said.
