Hill cutting stokes uproar at Xeldem

Margao: Issues pertaining to the illegal hill cutting at Shirvoi largely dominated the proceedings of the Xeldem gram sabha on Sunday. Gram sabha members questioned the sarpanch over the failure of the panchayat in taking any steps to stop the illegal activity.

Sarpanch Kavita Gauns Dessai assured the gram sabha of conducting a site inspection early next week and addressing the issue.

Gram sabha members pointed out how, despite the show-cause notice and stop-work order issued by the district administration, unauthorised hill cutting and landfilling have resumed at Shirvoi.

“The high court ruled against converting agricultural land into settlement zones and directed the panchayats, mamlatdars, police inspectors, and deputy collectors to form flying squads to investigate complaints within an hour,” a gram sabha member said. “Despite lodging complaints, no action was taken in this case, and blatant hill cutting continues.”

He questioned how hill cutting could be permitted in an area surrounded by agricultural fields.

The issue of open spaces also came to the fore, with gram sabha members accusing the panchayat of failing to demarcate such plots and take them into its possession. “With the panchayat failing to take these open spaces into its possession, they are largely misused,” Amey Chimulkar, a former panchayat member, said.