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News Articles

Carmona panchayat meet witnesses uproar over housing project

NT News Service

Majorda, March 30: Acrimonious scenes were witnessed at the Carmona panchayat gram sabha meeting held this morning. The gram sabha meeting which was attended by many villagers was held under a special pandal outside the Government Primary school building and began at around 10.15 a.m.

As the secretary was reading out the minutes of the last meeting, a verbal duel ensued between the relative of a panch and a local resident who was raising a point at the meet.

The situation did not subside and ugly scenes prevailed when both the parties clashed.

After about 20 minutes of this incident, police arrived there and brought the matter under control taking both the parties to the police station.

The gram sabha members repeatedly kept on shouting even before the start of the meeting that the elected panchayat members in the seven member panchayat body should resign if they do not recall the file of a mega housing project coming up at Tamdeg.

The sarpanch, Mr Eustaquio Costa appealed for calm and warned the gram sabha members that he will adjourn the meeting if order did not prevail.

Calm descended after the appeal of the sarpanch and the meeting began with a number of queries mostly pertaining to building projects in the village.

However, the main voice of the local people was against the mega housing project when several gram sabha members questing the sarpanch on this particular matter.

After persistent questioning on the subject, the sarpanch, Mr Eustaquio Costa relented and said he is with the people and if the local people did not want this mega housing project in the village, the will of the villagers will prevail.

Even though this reply of the sarpanch was responded with loud applause, the gram sabha members which included lawyers, teachers and other professionals besides a large number of commoners forced the sarpanch to move a resolution to the effect that the file with the new plan submitted to the Town and Country Planning of this mega housing project should be recalled within seven days. The sarpanch agreed to send a letter to the Town and Country plan on this subject.

The resolution to this effect drafted by a local lawyer and agreed upon by the gram sabha members and the seven elected panchayat members attending the meeting was read there and then to the satisfaction of all to recall the file and not to put official stamp on it till the Regional Plan 2011 is published by the state government and accepted by the Goans. This unanimous resolution was declared as passed at the gram sabha.

Meanwhile, the Colva police disclosed that they have received three complaints regarding the incident that occurred at this gram sabha. The police said that all the complaints registered by them are of non-cognizable nature and that therefore no one was arrested.

Police said cross and counter cross complaints were filed by one Mr Francisco D’Costa and Mr Victor D’Costa, while one Ms Juliana D’Silva also filed her complaint against a local. Police however said that investigations are on into the incident.