Dear Ashley and other Saligao-netters,
Since you mentioned that I was present at the meeting at the village
panchayat office meeting along with others, I wish to state and clarify as
follows:
1. It was decided and agreed by all (inclyding Cyril D'Mello, Mario V.
Cordeiro) that an alternate site would be found. *Till then it was *
*clearly understood that all work of the tower would stop*.... I
clearly remember Cyril's words... quote *"not a drop of concrete will be*
*put into the pit till we meet and resolve this"*. He was however
trying to lay the onus of finding the alternate site on to the people
attending the meeting. Besides this he also wanted the Village
Panchayat to *'fast-track'* all the future permissions of the relocated
tower, as and when it was to be done, to which many of the present,
including self, objected, saying that the permissions of these
sort cannot be fast-tracked, as the Village Panchayat body, as well as
the Gram Sabha has to be appraised of the same and then
only the approvals granted. The attending people however agreed to
consider *the present existing tower site, and Cyril agreed.*
2. I was given the responsibility to talk to Mr. Tony Rex D' Souza,(owner
of the present tower site) and get his okay for the new tower,
in place of the existing one, on the same terms and conditions that
they had given to the Delaney family. Cyril had promised to give
me a copy of the agreement (which till date he has not) and I was
asked by all, to convince Mr. D' Souza to agree.
3. I also volunteered to speak to Mr. John Machado and family, as he was
one of the persons who had objected to the present tower as
he felt he was within 'radiation range...'.
4. I completed the responsibility that was given to me within 2 days. Mr.
D' Souza agreed and told me that he was willing to stand by the
peoples wishes. I however asked him to move the tower right to the rear
end of his property so as to increase the distance from the
Machado residence and the neighboring houses, to which *he agreed.*
5. Mr. John Machado had asked that the height be increased to plus 50
meters and also that the tower should be Solar powered,
keeping it in line of the same being a *"GREEN TOWER", as promised by
Mr. Cyril & Associates. *
*HOWEVER,*
*
*
----- I was given to understand that the the work on the new proposed tower
was started the very next day...when questioned it was said
that they were only excavating, not concreting. I for one, did not mind
the excavation, as Cyril had said at the meeting that the site
where the excavation was done (the Delaney's compound), would be used
as a*"water harvesting site"
*, if and when an alternate site
was found...!
----- I met Cyril and Mario,again, at the Panchayat office (I was called
by the Sarpanch at the request of the others who had gathered) 3 days
later,after they had started work, including shuttering etc. During this
meeting the arguments were very heated and Cyril questioned me why I had
not contacted him..... to which I told him that I did not have his contact
and that I had tried his dad's(Joaquim D' Mello) mobile as well as his
father-in-laws mobile and land line, but that all my calls were not
answered, nor were there any call backs from any of them.
Till then there was still a scope of getting this issue resolved amicably. *I
was told by Cyril at this meeting, in clear cut terms that from then on he
did not want any help from me on the tower issue and that I should keep out
of it, as I quote him " the law is on my side". All were present when this
was said. *
------ From my side I have done all that I was asked to do and have
conveyed the same to the Panchayat and others present there at the
same meeting. Since then due to work constrain, I have kept out of active
participation in the discussions/protest etc, but have followed
the debate and postings on the Saligao-net...!
Ashley just one small observation : what is the frequency of checking
radiation emitted by the mobile towers? the date shown below
signature of the
official who signed on the certificate you uploaded shows* 28/4..last year*.
Should not, the
frequency of checking be at least once a month.... taking into consideration
peoples apprehensions
and possibility of malfunction?
I am not an expert on the above subject and cannot understand much about
radiation etc. I had appealed,* time and time again*, with Mr. Cyril D'
Mello and Mr. Mario V. Cordeiro, both in my personal private meetings with
them, as well as at the village Gram-Sabha, to *support their claims, that
the Green Tower, that *t*hey were then proposing to erect in
a residential area, would not be harmful to the health of the residents in
that locality , by way of getting expert scientist to certify the same so
that people's*
*fears and apprehensions could be addressed, which till date has not been
done.*
My fear is that with the present stand taken by the group involved in
erecting the tower, and the work still carrying on at fast pace, trouble
may break out, if peoples fears are not allayed.
Hope better sense prevails
Austin Da Gama
On Sun, Mar 4, 2012 at 5:40 PM, Devine Computers <[email protected]>wrote:
> **
> Dear Saligaonetters
> Pardon the large attachment to this email, I am enclosing a 31 slide
> presentation as a PDF file which Cyril, Gerard (my dad) , myself and Venas
> jointly gave to a small group of immediate neighbours for the Dialogue.
> *unfortunately,
> this was never explained to the public at large by those who attended this
> session as was expected from them. *the presentation attached contains
> some more detail since that day to make it self explanatory.
> At another informal meeting (which I personally was not present for) at
> the panchayat office in the morning a day or two after the Gramsabha, I was
> told that the following decision was reached. IF they (the villagers) can
> find a suitable site in saligao that fits with all the operator
> requirements and IF it satisfies all other requirements by law ; and IF
> the neighbours agree* ; then and only then will the tower shift* after
> consultation with all 3 members of the present "tower team". *till such a
> site is found, it will continue to reside at its present location*. I was
> told that the present people (a sizable number) included Gladstone, Diago,
> Austy, Mario Silu, Gordon and a few others including Cyril and Venas.
> this condition was agreed by All present because as Cyril told them - "if
> we stop work at this site - you will not help us in searching for an
> alternate site and you will say "baba my work is done - I got the tower
> stopped". when the tower is up - it will remind you to search for an
> alternate site". It was on this basis that the "Dialogue" planned with
> Marjorie with the general public on the weekend was dropped.
> After speaking with people around, and from the mails that have been put
> out, one can conclude that these "facts" were again not communicated to the
> people of saligao. one can only hope that, more does not remain hidden.
>
> Saligao villagers have remained without a tower for 12 years! while other
> villages / cities progress.
>
> I personally find it Ironic that some of the people "protesting" against
> this tower for whatever reason, forget that they have towers on their own
> business properties; and some have now come forward offering theirs. A
> typical NIMBY (not in my backyard) approach?.
>
> Mog asundi
> Ashley
>
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