Calangute: Until and unless the Supreme Court decides on the appeals, the Calangute panchayat cannot stop any of the ongoing constructions which had been approved under the scrapped outline development plan (ODP) for Calangute, said Calangute sarpanch Joseph Sequeira.At the gram sabha on Sunday, he said the approved constructions were continuing as the panchayat had issued construction licences based on the ODP which was then applicable. However, he said, with the Bombay high court scrapping the ODP and ruling that the Regional Plan 2021 be followed, the VP now only issues construction licences based on the RP 2021. “We have rejected some applications for construction licences as they were not as per the RP 2021,” Sequeira said.A number of other issues were also discussed. Villagers said that though they have been promised for years that the water supply situation would improve, and even new water pipelines have been laid the situation is still the same, with people having to get up at midnight or 2am to fill their water tanks, and some areas receiving water supply only once in two days.The sarpanch said there has been some improvement in a few areas after the full-fledged commissioning of the new water storage tanks at Umtawaddo. “A lot of work is left to complete the Pilerne water treatment plant which will supply Calangute. Also the pipeline from the water pumping station at Boa Viagem to the Pilerne water treatment plant is still not completed. All this will take time. The treated water from the Baga sewage plant will also come only after the reverse pipeline is laid,” he said.About the lack of online facility to pay the panchayat house tax, the sarpanch said the VP has not been able to implement the online payment facility because of too many duplicate house numbers.
