Margao: The Village Panchayat of Carmona recently installed and launched an online high-resolution long range CCTV surveillance camera as a means to curb the practice of roadside garbage dumping and criminal activities.

The village has been facing the brunt of roadside garbage for a long time and has been demanding action to be taken against the practice. Speaking to the media about the installation of the cameras along the main roads, village sarpanch Allwyn Jorge said it would help in improving the village’s garbage management system.

“Even though Carmona had a well-managed garbage system in place, it has been a victim of illicit dumping and roadside littering of garbage mainly by migrants and tenants staying within the village and also other neighbouring villages which attract a lot of tourists. We had a practice of cleaning up the roads on a weekly basis which was a great headache for us and we have imposed hefty fines on defaulters in the past. We have installed these high-end cameras with long range recording capacity which will help us to monitor garbage dumping as well as any criminal activities. People of the village can relax due to this additional feature of Carmona panchayat to have online monitoring of the main village roads,” he said.

The plan, said Jorge, was to monitor the entire main road stretch from the Cavelossim border to the Orlim village border and the beach road. He also urged other villages to follow their example and can set up a system of exchange of camera footage if required for any investigation. Gram sabha members have persistently been demanding the installation of the cameras as a proactive measure to keep a watch on garbage dumping in the village.