NT NETWORK
PANAJI
Coming close on the heels of opposition from villagers of Santa Cruz and Chimbel to the inclusion of village or parts of village under newly-formed Greater Panaji Planning and Development Authority, the people from Curca, Bambolim and Talaulim have also united to oppose the inclusion of their village areas in the ambit of the GPPDA.
Addressing a joint press conference, villagers, panchayat members and sarpanch Maria Leena Da Cunha told reporters that a resolution has been passed in the gram sabha opposing inclusion of the villages in the GPPDA.
The copies of resolution have since been sent to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on three occasions but there has been no response from the government yet, they claimed.
Interestingly the BJP-led village panchayat panel was formed following the intervention of Parrikar under the leadership of Da Cunha. It is alleged that the BJP has gone against the sentiments and opinion of its own party workers and included the village areas in the GPPDA.
The villagers slammed St Andre MLA Francisco Silveira for giving the letter of consent to the government in favour of the PDA without consulting them and taking unilateral decision on the issue.
The MLA had also been invited for the press conference, but he failed to turn up.
“Francisco Silveira has informed us that he supports the government decision and hence he was not with the villagers on the issue,” claimed Rama Kankonkar, a villager.
Silveira failed to respond to the calls and messages of this reporter despite repeated attempts made to reach out to him for his comments.
Former zilla panchayat member Suresh Palkar claimed that all the village areas marked under the GPPDA are hilly and has forest cover. He said that he would support the villagers and panchayat members in exploring legal options to get the decision revoked at the appropriate forum.
The villagers fear that they will lose their identity on account of the GPPDA as the demography of their villages will change. They also feel that the panchayat will have no power over development in the areas and that taxation would be on higher side.
They said that though the village has the majority of the tribal population, no prior approval was taken from the scheduled tribe community for the inclusion of these areas.
Meanwhile, the sarpanch said that a special gram sabha meeting has been convened on February 25 to decide on future course of action. She also informed that the villagers will join the protest against the GPPDA at Santa Cruz on February 18.