Olencio, Alina take potshots at Cortalim panchayat

CANSAULIM: Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Olencio Simoes may not see eye-to-eye with Cortalim MLA and RDA minister Alina Saldanha of late, but both have criticized the Cortalim-Quelossim panchayat’s move to hold a hunger strike over the bifurcation of the local self-governing body.
A few days ago, the Cortalim MLA had flayed sarpanch Hilario Figueiredo after he announced the hunger strike regarding the delay in carving out a separate panchayat for Quelossim.Simoes, who is Saldanha’s nephew and will cross swords with her for the Cortalim seat, has also hit out at the panchayat, alleging that the one-day hunger strike is just a ploy to divert attention away from the ‘Mini India Park’ issue at Quelossim.
The panchayat had issued a provisional no-objection certificate to the project in khazan land following the Investment Promotion Board’s (IPB) issuance of a provisional approval to the project.
Saldanha, while attending a gram sabha last month, had questioned the sarpanch about the approval. She had also said the site, which lays along the bank of River Zuari, comes under CRZ jurisdiction and had alleged that the hunger strike was a tactic by Figueiredo to divert the attention away from the project.
On his part, Simoes alleged that the panchayat had failed to carry out basic developmental works in Cortalim and Quelossim and had also failed to act against illegal structures.