Kavlem locals want p’yat to crack down on scrapyards

Ponda: Following the recent massive fire at a Dhavali-based scrapyard, Kavlem villagers have asked their panchayat not to bow down to pressure and to act strongly to remove scrapyards from its jursidiction. The Kavlem panchayat held an urgent gramsabha on Thursday afternoon in the backdrop of the fire.
Over 100 villagers attended the gram sabha.
The scrapyard fire was so intense that the state highway passing through the village had to be temporarily closed. Villagers said that only twice before was the need to close the highway felt, once during the Covid pandemic and the other time due to the language agitation in the mid-1980s.
Stating that the matter regarding scrapyards is sub-judice, locals demanded that the panchayat plead the case strongly without bowing down to any pressure.
The villagers told the panchayat that the scrapyards are like a time bomb waiting to go off and pose a risk to their lives.
Nearly a week after a major fire broke out at the scrapyard, the air in the area continues to be polluted with smoke particles.