NT NETWORK
CHORAO
The Chorao bridge and casino issues rocked the Chorao gram sabha which was held at the Village Panchayat hall on Sunday. The youth who raised the issues stalled the gram sabha twice and police force was called to maintain order.
The youth especially from the United Citizens of Chorao condemned the local MLA Anand Shet and Zilla Parishad member Shankar Chodankar for not attending the gram sabha. The acting sarpanch Vasudev Dhuri conducted the gram sabha proceedings.
Shrikrishna Haldankar (proposed) and Ashwini Chodankar (seconded) the bridge proposal and thereafter asked the panchayat to call for a special gram sabha on the issue. The panchayat has agreed to call for a special gram sabha on July 31 to know the status of the Chorao Bridge.
The youth from United Citizens of Chorao have also invited Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar, local MLA Anand Shet and GSIDC officials to attend the special gram sabha.
Villagers have opposed a casino in Chorao and urged the panchayat to remove the same immediately. According to villagers the casino is located just 100 metres of the buffer zone which will have serious repercussions on the Salim Ali Bird Sanctuary. They also raised the issue of pollution in eco-sensitive zone which will destroy traditional fishing activities.
Villagers said that the casino has been using the ferry jetty and the youth will automatically get attracted to gambling activities. They strongly objected to the presence of the casino and a resolution was passed to remove the casino immediately.
Meanwhile, panchas have been burdened to spend from their personal account to repair and replace street lights in case of any faulty tube lights or repair damaged wires. As a result villagers have to wait for months to get the tube light repaired or replaced. The villagers were also up in arms against daily power cuts between 7 pm and 8 pm whether there is a monsoon or not. They urged the authorities to immediately sort out their problem at the earliest.
The members also opposed the illegal construction coming up at Khazan land in Chorao.
The gram sabha members also hoped that the 108 ambulance service will be provided to their village as two heart patients expired as the ambulance reached very late from Bicholim.