Team Goemkarponn
CHICALIM: Tensions ran high at the Chicalim Gram Sabha meeting on Sunday as residents voiced strong objections over the village’s long-pending sewerage crisis, demanding an immediate halt to new development until the infrastructure issues are resolved.
Expressing frustration over the lack of progress, villagers urged the panchayat not to issue any further construction licences until the sewerage problems affecting the locality are fully addressed.
Deputy Sarpanch Aishwarya Korgaonkar, however, maintained that sewerage lines had already been laid in her ward and that no issues had been reported there. She suggested that the absence of sewerage lines in other areas could be due to a lack of follow-up by the respective panch members.
Korgaonkar attributed the prolonged delay in resolving the crisis partly to public opposition to proposed sites for the infrastructure. She stated that the Sewerage Corporation, the panchayat and Minister Mauvin Godinho had identified a suitable site earlier, along with three alternative locations in Dabolim. However, objections from local residents at the proposed sites had made it difficult to proceed with the project.
Responding to the concerns raised during the meeting, Sarpanch Kamla Prasad Yadav assured villagers that the matter would be taken up with the concerned authorities. He said formal letters would be sent to the Sewerage Corporation, the Goa State Pollution Control Board and Minister Mauvin Godinho, urging them to address the village’s sewerage grievances on a priority basis.
Sarpanch Raises Protocol Issue Over Mahila Bhavan Inauguration
The Gram Sabha also witnessed a heated discussion over the recent inauguration of the Mahila Bhavan, with residents questioning why the village sarpanch had not been invited to the function.
Yadav confirmed that he was not invited to the inauguration, which was conducted by Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant and Minister Mauvin Godinho. Expressing disappointment over the omission, he said the exclusion had hurt his personal sentiments as well as those of villagers.
He further stressed that leaving out an elected local representative from the inauguration of a public project within the jurisdiction of the panchayat was inappropriate and set a wrong precedent in governance and protocol.
