CITIZEN REPORTER
Praveen Hede
Porvorim, though a modern township, does not have its own municipality to handle its affairs but instead, is manned by two Panchayats, the "Salvador-Do-Mundo" and the "Penha-De-Franc" Panchayats. Firstly, the location of both these Panchayats is at quite a distance from the Porvorim plateau and hence causes a lot of discomfort to the people who have to travel a lot just to pay their taxes, etc. What is interesting is that the people residing here are not aware of which jurisdiction they are under as even houses separated by a narrow road end up falling under different Panchayats. The confusion is more so for newly settled residents.
Another major problem arises in the case of road kill i.e. when an animal, killed in an accident, lies in the middle of the road. The responsibility of removing the dead carcass is the duty of the Panchayat but when contacted, both Panchayats shift the liability on the other. This place is at least in need of a proper demarcation line because as the blame game goes on, the residents will either have to bear with the disgusting stench or make arrangements for disposing off the carcass at their own expense.
In Panaji, when a new residential colony comes up, the municipality provides a dustbin for the residents of that colony, unlike the case of Porvorim whose two Panchayats do not provide anything and adding to it, when the residents inquire with the officials, they get the audacious reply that the residents could throw their garbage in open spaces as there are plenty of them. As no new dustbins are provided, the existing few bins are filled to their maximum capacity and hence overflows onto the road. Also noticed is that building contractors do not think twice before dumping building materials in any available open space. The solution to the above problems is spending the revenue which the Panchayats get in the form of taxes collected from the residents, to provide the residents with basic services that will go a long way in keeping Porvorim clean and improving the quality of the life for the people here. Also, stringent action should be taken by the Panchayats in case of people misusing open areas to carry out illegal activities.
|
