AREAL VILLAGE MEET FOCUSES ON ILLEGAL SCRAPYARDS AND MEGAPROJECT

Issues pertaining to illegal scrapyards and the contentious mega project came to the fore at the gram sabha of the Sao Jose de Areal village panchayat . The villagers also pointed out to a number of cement godowns in the village operating without mandatory no-objection certificates (NOCs) from the panchayat, even as they urged the panchayat body to take action in that regard. The gram sabha members also said that there were 47 illegal scrapyards in the village and that the panchayat had failed to initiate action against their owners. The villagers also raised queries pertaining to a mega project in the village. The villagers were upset over the failure of deputy sarpanch Jose Minguel Fernandes, who chaired the meeting, in giving satisfactory replies over allegations levelled by locals at the last gram sabha that the drawings submitted by the panchayat to the authorities pertaining to the mega project were manipulated