Margao: The Navelim gram sabha on Sunday unanimously dismissed the proposed survey by the Directorate of Settlement and Land Records (DSLR) in the village and demanded that Navelim retain its identity as a village.
Sarpanch Paulo Pereira informed the gram sabha that the proposed survey was aimed at including Navelim along with other villages in the Planning and Development Authority (PDA) area under the Margao Municipal Council.
“There were earlier attempts to include Navelim in the Margao Municipal Council around 10 years ago, which were strongly opposed by villagers,” he told those present.
Villagers asked the panchayat to write to the DSLR conveying their objection and stated that surveyors should not be allowed and would not be allowed in Navelim. The gram sabha later passed a resolution asserting that the village must retain its identity and objected to any move towards urbanisation.
The gram sabha also held a detailed discussion on garbage management after the sarpanch said that the panchayat was proposing door-to-door collection of dry and wet waste through an empanelled contractor of the Goa Solid Waste Management Corporation.
While giving its nod to the proposal, the gram sabha raised concerns about garbage generated from rented cubicles and demanded that proper tenant verification be carried out. It was resolved to convene a special gram sabha to discuss the roadmap for implementing the door-to-door collection system.
The meeting witnessed an uproar when villagers demanded the installation of CCTV cameras inside the panchayat office, including the sarpanch’s and secretary’s cabins, following allegations that the sarpanch had kept a proposal pending for a month. The sarpanch said the proposal would be considered only after following due procedure and placing it before the body meeting.
The gram sabha also passed a resolution to appoint a person to revive the website, which has been defunct after the lowest bidder failed to maintain it properly. Members were informed that the person who had originally built the website was maintaining it earlier, but audit objections required the panchayat to invite fresh bids, following which the person was changed.
