CANSAULIM: The gram sabha of Cansaulim village panchayat, held on Sunday, at the panchayat ghar, decided to reject the South Western Railway (SWR)’s proposal to double the railway line from Margao to Vasco.
As soon as the minutes of the previous adjourned gram sabha were read, the sarpanch, Mr Jose Manuel Fernandes, admitted that the resolution for land acquisition for construction of a road in the vicinity of the controversial housing project at Cottarvaddo, was wrongly recorded in the minutes by the secretary, Mr Pradeep Tamhankar, when in fact, such a proposal was never put to vote.
Thereafter, gram sabha member, Mr Evans Fernandes, highlighted the state of affairs in the village panchayat office, saying there was no accountability among the administrative staff as regards to office timings and work attitude.
The sarpanch assured to look into the matter. A gram sabha member brought to the notice of those gathered that vide panchayat body resolution No 9 of August 5, 2008, it was resolved to get the services of a engineer and surveyor as and when needed to check for illegalities in projects and building files of the village.
He further said that if any project file is passed by the panchayat in violation of the said resolution, the damages if any claimed by the builder of the project, which are subsequently proved to be illegal, should be recovered from the panchas after fixing responsibilities for being party to licensing such projects.
To this, panch Mr Ferwin Saldanha accused the gram sabha member of fabricating such a resolution. The member in turn, produced the minutes of the village panchayat body meeting of August 5, 2008, obtained under the RTI Act and the meet witnessed a visibly embarrassed Mr Saldanha sheepishly taking his seat.
In the din, a longtime panch, Ms Martha Saldanha was heard saying that “the gram sabha is nobody and has no powers.” She opined that the matter of the controversial mega project is ‘sub-judice’ and the matter is pending before the director of panchayats. A gram sabha member countered her by saying that the director of panchayat is a quasi judicial authority and that the elected panchas cannot abdicate their responsibilities and should act and revoke the licence given to the builder forthright to uphold the law.
The gram sabha ended with the final resolution tabled by Ms Sheela Gracias on the doubling of the railway line by the South Western Railway.
The Cansaulim gram sabha rejected the proposal of the Indian Railways to expand the existing rail track and loop it to the Konkan Railway track for various reasons, including the fact that the existing rail track passes through the area which has the highest population density in the village and is in close vicinity of age old heritage houses.
They said constant movement of rail traffic would cause vibrations which could damage the heritage houses. Also vibration owing to rail traffic have caused cracks in old heritage houses and further expansion plans would prove catastrophic to the village, they reasoned.
Dr Marconi Correia appealed to the villagers of Velsao, Utorda, Majorda, Sancoale and Chicalim to join hands and collectively reject the doubling of the railway line from Vasco to Margao. (NT)
Dr Marconi Correia appealed to the villagers of Velsao, Utorda, Majorda, Sancoale and Chicalim should be taken on board and the plan for expansion must be rejected. The current railway line is a nuisance enough for every village it passes through. Villages gave been cut in two, the land filled sites has no way of releasing water pressure during floods. There are many flaws in the construction of the Konkan Railway.
ReplyDeleteIt is only right to object to building any more railway lines in Goa.
Shame on the Cansaulim Jose Manuel Fernandes for along with the Secretary Pradeep Tamhankar trying to illegally put in for acquistion of land to build a road for the controversial mega-housing project in Cottar Vaddo.
ReplyDeleteLikewise Panch members Martha Saldanha and Ferwin Saldanha how corrupt and shamelessly greedy can you get along with the Sarapanch that you work to destroy your own village of Cansaulim with evil forces and the backing of your MLA!
Martha Saldanha how dare you say that “the gram sabha is nobody and has no powers.” You along with the Sarpanch Jose Manuel Fernandes and Ferwin Saldanha should be barred from representing the villagers of Cansaulim.