NERUL: Opposition to construction of an education hub and laying of a road leading to the KV school besides the neglect of Coco beach rocked the Nerul gram sabha held on Sunday at the panchayat hall.
Villagers raised objection to the education hub on the Nerul plateau by Don Bosco management.
The Don Bosco management has won the case before the director of panchayats and even got permission to demolish a religious structure as it was found to be illegal. This has irked the villagers.
The Nerul sarpanch Piedade Almeida told the gram sabha that the panchayat has challenged the decision in the district court. The other thing that the villagers objected is the proposed construction of 10-metre road leading to the KV school at Verem for which there is a central government nod. Villagers fear that the road will benefit the Don Bosco education hub and builders lobby from Delhi who have purchased huge private properties and in turn give rise to problems like garbage.
The deputy sarpanch Sandeep Hoble tried to blame the ex-panch members for the road issue but the ex-sarpanch Shashikala Govekar, who is a panch member, denied it and said that they had raised objection to the construction of the road. The president of the Nerul communidade Eric Godinho however said that the previous body had accepted the proposal and so a tender for building the road was issued.
Mohan Kalangutkar raised the issue of neglect of Coco beach and said that there is no proper access to the beach and there are no toilets and so tourists answer nature’s call in the open. He also said that there are no lifeguards and there is sand erosion at the beach. He also made a suggestion to the panchayat to carry out beautification so that the villagers could continue their business.
The sarpanch Piedade said that the panchayat is in talks with the local MLA and Housing Minister Jayesh Salgaonkar who has promised to beautify the entire beach.
Villagers also raised the issue of garbage and pointed fingers at the tenants staying on rent at Nerul for disposing garbage in the open. The sarpanch Piedade said that the BDO has asked the panchayat to form a garbage committee so that it can avail government grants adding, “Our village does not have adequate funds and still we were collecting garbage twice a week by door-to-door visits earlier and now it has been increased to three days a week.”
The other issues raised were of nullahs not desilted for years, access to the fields blocked at many places in the village by planting of coconut palms which is causing major problem to the farmers to carry implements to their fields, lake near the Nerul football ground needs to be desilted as it overflows during rains and so water enters into the fields causing problem to the farmers so also need of a protection wall to avoid mishaps. Stray dogs menace and non-functional streetlights were amongst other issues discussed.