Shirdi temple trust claims time-bound darshan has stopped ‘agent culture’
- Saturday | 11th February, 2017
Under PESA, the Union government funds are routed to the villages directly to the gram panchayat for works sanctioned in the gram sabha. For this, the check dam needs to be maintained. Our requests to the gram panchayat for a one decade have gone unheard. "The desilting work was approved in village development plan in 2014, so no fresh permissions are required. Unless the dam is in proper condition, we cannot have water storage at the designed level.
Nashik: Tribals from Nave Dhagur village, just 17km from here, will themselves start repair and desilting of a check dam next week, after waiting for over 10 years for the administration to heed to their request.The check dam was built in 2001, but a portion of it was brought down a year later to facilitate construction of a bridge in the upstream areas. Though the bridge was built immediately, the broken portion has not been fixed till now. The gap in the main wall of the check dam has caused water to flow continuously downstream and dented the amount of water that can be stored for use after monsoon.The villagers claimed that their umpteen requests to the gram panchayat went unheard and the latter kept passing the buck on the agriculture department, which had constructed the dam.On December 28, the villagers passed a resolution in the gram sabha to take up the repair on their own as the gram panchayat was sitting on this request for about a decade. This Republic Day, the residents will take up repair and desilting of the check dam that takes care of the village`s drinking water and irrigation needs.Villagers, including women, will take up volunteer for desilting the check dam using Rs 2.5 lakh allocated to the village under the Panchayat Raj Extension to Schedules Areas (PESA). Under PESA, the Union government funds are routed to the villages directly to the gram panchayat for works sanctioned in the gram sabha."There is an urgent need to carry out these two tasks to set things in order. Unless the dam is in proper condition, we cannot have water storage at the designed level. Our requests to the gram panchayat for a one decade have gone unheard. This is the reason that the village continues to face water crisis from March and we are tanker dependent," said Eknath Bhoye, a villager.The Ghote Nature Club and Durg Sanwardhan are chipping in by providing some construction material. The villagers will also raise funds and will undertake the work.Vijay Ghote of Manas Foundation, who is leading the activity, said they started with a cleanliness drive on January 1 and the entire village joined the exercise. "The villagers have been told to maintain the same cleanliness levels and improve wherever possible. The next move is to make ample water available for the villagers even in summer. For this, the check dam needs to be maintained. This prompted the plan for construction activity on January 26," he said.The desilting of the dam is essential to enhance the water storage to ensure the villagers do not have to depend on water tankers in summer. Sources in the local Block Development Office, Dindori, said they were aware of the plans of the villagers on January 26."The desilting work was approved in village development plan in 2014, so no fresh permissions are required. Besides, the maintenance is the gram panchayat`s responsibility and the local villagers are doing it, so there is no problem. This is a unique activity that the villagers have planned on the Republic Day," said an officer.
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