Team Goemkarponn
CANACONA: Agonda village is on track to receive developmental works worth ₹100 crore by the end of the current panchayat term, with ₹91 crore already completed or proposed across various sectors, according to Agonda Sarpanch Nilesh Pagui. Addressing the media at his office in VP Agonda, Pagui said the village panchayat is focused on a vision of “Rising and Green Agonda”, and credited the progress to the support of Speaker and Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar.
Pagui informed that the largest component of the development is ₹70 crore worth of electricity works, of which ₹34 crore has already been completed. These include underground cabling of high-tension lines, replacement of old poles and conductors, repair of non-functional streetlights, and installation of eight transformers. The remaining ₹35 crore is earmarked for low-tension underground cabling—₹26 crore along the coastline and ₹9.5 crore in the village interior—which is in the pipeline. “Once these works are completed, 99% of our electricity issues will be resolved,” Pagui stated.
In the water supply sector, a ₹1.33 crore project for construction of an open bhandara (water reservoir) at Mudkud is expected to commence after the monsoon, which is anticipated to solve the village’s water-related concerns.
The sarpanch further listed several panchayat-funded works executed over the past 4-5 months using ₹55 lakh, including a protection wall at Mudkud, marriage steps (₹4.14 lakh), flood drainage at Dhavalkhazan, road works at Parvem-Sondi and Panna Devasthan (₹8.85 lakh), crematorium repair and rehabilitation (₹22 lakh), a wall at the garbage site (₹21 lakh), Vitthal Rukmai Temple Dindi-Dhalo shed (₹7.40 lakh), and road signboards (₹8 lakh). These projects were funded through both the panchayat budget and the Golden Jubilee-Nirbhay Bharat Swayampurna Goa Fund.
Road infrastructure development worth ₹8.69 crore is also in the works and expected to begin after the monsoon. This includes resurfacing of MDR-49 from Char-rasta to Agonda, widening and hotmixing of the internal coastal road (₹5.74 crore), Karashirmoll road (₹2.62 crore), resurfacing of the Guravol road (₹24 lakh), and a retaining wall at Mudkud (₹15.50 lakh).
As part of the “Green Agonda” initiative, the panchayat has engaged a contractor for collection and processing of wet garbage, while dry waste is being collected door-to-door regularly.
Pagui also alleged that the previous sarpanch, Preetal Fernandes, did not undertake any significant development work, resulting in a wasted year-and-a-half for the village. “She is now trying to take credit for projects she did not initiate. It’s like eating the cake that someone else brought and kept on the table,” he remarked.
Former sarpanch Fatima Rodrigues, however, defended her nine-month term, stating that she was responsible for initiating door-to-door garbage collection, acquiring ₹30 lakh worth of garbage treatment machinery, engaging six additional labourers for garbage work, and operationalizing the garbage treatment site. “There was visible development in all seven wards during my tenure,” Rodrigues asserted.
Pagui concluded by saying that with ₹91 crore worth of completed and proposed projects already accounted for, the panchayat will work towards achieving a full ₹100 crore in net developmental works for Agonda before the current term ends.
