MAJORDA LOCALS TRAIN GUNS ON SARPANCH OVER CRZ ISSUE

At the gram sabha of the Majorda village panchayat held , sarpanch Visitation D'Silva came in the line of heavy fire from villagers. They accused her of shielding influential starred hotel owners from having to face the axe of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) demolition squad. Agitated gram sabha members accused D'Silva of being biased in identifying the illegal structures and charged her with "protecting the interests of the hoteliers while acting against the welfare of the poor." D'Silva tried to calm frayed tempers by explaining that many structures, including some starred hotels, had approached the court and thus no action could be taken against cases which were sub-judice. The explanation, however, failed to convince the infuriated members present at the meeting. The villagers further quizzed the panchayat body for failing to take any measures to recover the huge arrears of house tax of a starred hotel, which, incidentally has amounted to over Rs 6 lakhs. The sarpanch then assured the gram sabha that appropriate action would be taken and the recovery would be effected within the span of the next six months. The gram sabha members of the Majorda village panchayat further expressed their disapproval over the failure of the panchayat body in taking any steps to identify a site for garbage disposal. They demanded that necessary steps be taken in this regard immediately. Voicing their concern over the misuse of open spaces in the village, the gram sabha adopted a resolution demanding that the village panchayat take all steps necessary to protect open spaces.