Planning committees to be revived in South Goa

Margao: The South Goa zilla panchayat at its meeting held on Tuesday decided to revive the district planning committee (DPC). The committee has been lying defunct over the last few years and several attempts by the district zilla panchayat to revive it have met with little success.

The zilla panchayat has decided to call for annual village development plans from all panchayats in South Goa.

The chief executive officer of the South Goa zilla panchayat Agnelo Fernandes told reporters that only eight panchayats have so far submitted their plans.

The DPC prepares a draft plan for the entire district after incorporating village and municipal development plans. The ZP members have expressed doubts over the preparation of the annual draft development plan if the village panchayats and municipal bodies fail to submit their respective plans by the end of the year.

Sources said that while DPCs are required for integrated development planning of the district, absence of statistical data has hampered the planning process towards the preparation of the draft district plan. Further, with the term of the current elected body of the zilla panchayat coming to an end early next year, it was decided at the meeting to take effective steps for optimum utilisation of government funds received for development projects. The members have been urged to submit their proposals for development works within the next two weeks so that quotations or tenders could be invited for the purpose.

Curtorim ZP member Moreno Rebello, while pointing out that waste from neigbouring villages finds its way to the Sonsoddo garbage dump, emphasised on the need for every village to have its own garbage treatment facility even as he welcomed the Chief Minister’s announcement that Goa Waste Management Corporation along with the m unicipal administration (DMA) will handle the situation at Sonsoddo.