Reviving the old village panchayat system of 1955, the residents of the gaothans elected 25 representatives — 17 sarpanchs (president) and eight upsarpanchs — to form the Mobai Gaothan Panchayat.
With political parties and elected representatives doing little to preserve the heritage value of the 189 gaothans in the city, the residents have come up with an innovative way to stop these ancient villages from turning into concrete mazes.
Reviving the old village panchayat system of 1955, the residents of the gaothans elected 25 representatives — 17 sarpanchs (president) and eight upsarpanchs — to form the Mobai Gaothan Panchayat on Wednesday.
Advocate Godfrey Pimenta from Marol was elected as the mukhya sarpanch and Alphi D’Souza was chosen to be the deputy mukhya sarpanch of all the gaothans.
The panchayat aims at giving residents of gaothans a larger say in their civic life and to address key issues.
“The original 189 gaothan settlements have always been neglected by the elected representatives,” said Pimenta. “We felt there was a need to have an organised setup which would strive for the betterment of the gaothans.”
Pimenta said that though the civic body had already earmarked the gaothan development funds, they aren’t being utilised.
Although the panchayat is not recognised by the government, the sarpanch will act as an elected area representative. “The panchayat will address both civic and social issues,” said Gleason Barretto, a Gaothan resident. “However, our priority is to get an increase in the floor space index to develop our cottages under the Gaothan Expansion Scheme. Also, we want a one-stop solution to get repair permissions from the BMC and the police.”
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