VALPOI: Upset with the apathy of the district administration and the elected representatives, villagers from Melauli, Paikul, Dhada, Shel, Mainguinim and Murmune under Guleli village panchayat in Sattari taluka have threatened to block the highway at Guleli village as a mark of protest if reconstruction of the Paikul bridge is not started within 15 days.
Submitting a representation to Sattari deputy collector Rajesh Ajgaonkar’s office at Valpoi on Tuesday, villagers demanded that the foundation stone of the bridge connecting Paikul village should be laid on a priority basis as villagers have been suffering immensely.
The Paikul bridge was the only source of connectivity for villagers and after its collapse recently, due to the floods, Melauli and the surrounding areas have been disconnected.
Villagers expressed their resentment towards the North Goa collector who, they claim, failed to visit the flood-affected villagers of Guleli village panchayat. They also said that in the floods farmers have suffered severely due to failure of the disaster management machinery. “Many farmers have had to sell their cows as there is no transport arrangement for supplying milk to the dairies located at Advoi” said a farmer who claimed that many dairy farmers in the area had sold off their cows because of this.
The villagers said that after the collapse of the bridge, many neighbouring villages including Dhada-Shel-Mainguinim, Voile-Murmune and Sakailem Murmune suffered shortage of drinking water since the pipeline laid over the Paikul bridge also collapsed. “With the approaching festive season and many religious ceremonies lined up, water woes cannot be resolved with tanker water supply,” one villager said.
Ajgaonkar, meanwhile, said that he has forwarded the representation made by the villagers to the collector’s office requesting that the collector should take up the construction of the bridge through the PWD.
