NT Reporter
Panaji
A fortnightly meeting of the Chimbel panchayat on Tuesday turned tense as villagers strongly opposed the proposed Unity Mall and Prashasan Stambh projects. The situation escalated when villagers insisted that panchayat members support their demand to scrap the projects completely.
Tensions flared further when panchayat member Shankar Naik supported the projects. Villagers demanded a verbal apology from him. Ajay Kholkar, a resident of Chimbel village, said the panchayat decided not to revoke the construction licence immediately and instead wait for a court order.
“Villagers are waiting here to hear from the sarpanch whether he is with the villagers or with the BJP. We also want an answer from panch member Shankar Naik as to why he is saying he wants the projects,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chimbel sarpanch Sandesh Shirodkar said the panchayat had earlier rejected the project multiple times. “We had earlier resolved three times to reject the project, but later GTDC challenged the rejection before the BDO,” Shirodkar said.
“When the BDO passed an order to issue the licence, we held a fortnightly meeting and challenged it before the Directorate of Panchayats, which asked us to give the licence on December 5, but due to the code of conduct from December 2, we were not in a position to hold a meeting for the same,” he said, adding that they have decided to wait for the court order before taking a final decision.
