Police were forced to intervene and calm the situation several times
Margao: The ruling and opposition factions of the Varca panch members argued and the tension between two groups was evident at Sunday’s gram sabha where police was forced to intervene and calm the situation on multiple occasions.
The opposing panch members resorted to raising voices and major disagreements on issues including that of drainage, concrete slabs and allegations of corruption.
The ruling panch members headed by sarpanch Salesiana Fernandes and deputy sarpanch Roland Fernandes and four other panch members and the opposition comprising three panch members including Sharon D’Costa and Joao alias Edison Rodrigues were found to be on the opposing end regarding several issues.
On the issue of drainage, the opposition claimed that the ruling side has kept the file pertaining to the repair of drainage on hold while the ruling side denied the allegation saying they were only following procedure. Similarly on the issue of concrete slabs that were obtained by the previous panchayat body, the ruling side informed the gram sabha that it had written letters to the former panch members to return the slabs, however the opposition said not enough was being done to recover slabs that were bought using public funds.
Speaking to media after the tumultuous gram sabha that saw police personnel intervene on several occasions, both sides criticised each other. D’Costa said, “Being a panch member, the decisions are taken by the panel. The minutes of the meeting which should be written by the secretary are written by the clerk. The secretary does not cooperate with us; he shouts at us and does not allow us to enter the cabin. There is no democracy in this panchayat. We’ve got a BDO memorandum on this issue also. Resolutions are passed without us. Ten memorandums have been written to the secretary for misbehaving, for not writing the minutes of the meeting and many other issues. Why is the secretary not being transferred? We are tired of the way he is working. The government must also take action.”
Rodrigues added, “People have told the panchayat about the problem of flooding if the drainage is not repaired in my ward. The estimate for the work is done including the NIT but the panchayat body is keeping the file on hold. We had also asked the panchayat not to allow construction licences for mega projects because it is affecting the electricity and water supply”.
Sarpanch Salesiana Fernandes meanwhile said that the opposition was only creating an issue and ruckus and that the body was for the development of the village.
Deputy sarpanch Roland Fernandes added, “The entire gram sabha was disturbed by the opposition who were taking up unrelated points. This is the frustration of the opposition. They are only making allegations against the sarpanch and the ruling. This is the first time such a thing has happened, Varca was such a peaceful place.”
Meanwhile, gram sabha members also passed a unanimous resolution against any diversion of River Mhadei saying it would drastically affect the state and demanded the revoking of the DPR that was approved for Karnataka.