Sarpanchs of Cotigao, Agonda back Tawadkar

Canacona: Sarpanchs of Cotigao and Agonda, rejecting allegations against speaker Ramesh Tawadkar over tree-felling, on Tuesday said that the opposition should not politicise the ‘shram-dham’ initiative to build houses for the poor in Canacona.
Agonda sarpanch Fatima Rodrigues told reporters at Shristhal, “Tawadkar understands the plight of poor people. He got the wood needed to complete the houses before the monsoon legally.”
Cotigao sarpanch Anandu Dessai, added, “Tawadkar sourced the wood from forest custody in an auction. Only after the completion of all the formalities, the wood was brought to the carpentry unit for processing.
He said forest minister Vishwajit Rane agreed to provide them with the wood if it was available with the forest department. tnn