Mapusa: Bastora villagers raised objection over parking of vehicles, used by a film shooting crew, on the footpath stating that such a thing had resulted in the footpath getting damaged.

The villagers were upset as vehicles, including a truck carrying equipment of film production, were parked on the footpath having pavers near Bastora panchayat.

The residents said that because of the weight of the vehicles, the paver tiles of the footpath got damaged and that the footpath paver work was done as part of beautification of the sidewalk structure.

Besides, they said the vehicles also caused inconvenience to the people in general.

Speaking about the issue, a resident Ramesh Matkar said that “we have no objection if the film shooting is carried out in our village but we do not want any damage to happen.”

“Since morning, the shooting was underway in Bastora village and a heavy vehicle was parked directly on the footpath. Because of the weight, the mud on which the pavers were fixed has sunk and the pavers are damaged,” Matkar said.

Sarpanch Ranjit Usgaonkar said that locals raised objection over vehicles being parked on the footpath.

“I raised the issue with the film production in charge and asked them to move vehicles from the footpath. I also asked them to block access only at a certain time of shooting because the locals should not be inconvenienced,” said Usgaonkar.

He further said that “the production house takes permission from the Entertainment Society of Goa and then the panchayat is intimated. However, the panchayat has no role and we get a share of revenue from ESG.”

“I request the ESG to intimate us in advance about film shootings so that we can also inform locals to avoid any inconvenience,” added Usgaonkar.