Porvorim: In a major and much wanted move, Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte has announced lockdown in Penha de Franca and Salvador do Mundo village panchayats, the process is incomplete as Succoro Panchayat is relying on its fate to control the spread.
Porvorim has become a hotspot for the Covid-19 spread. Penha de Franca and Salvador do Mundo Panchayat which has complete control of Khaunte have gone ahead with the lockdown while Succoro Panchayat is yet to join hands with its neighbours.
The worry was visible in the letter written by Khaunte to Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant informing him about the two-panchayat lockdown.
Khaunte wrote “I request you to direct Socorro Panchayat to issue lock down in their area on similar lines as that of Penha de Franca and Salvador do Mundo Panchayats as Porvorim as a Constituency is experiencing rapid increase of COVID cases. Therefore, we need to act swiftly and strategically.”
Khaunte’s decision to lockdown two panchayat areas is a wise one considering the rampant deaths and sky-rocketing covid-19 cases in the state.
“Amid lock down 2.0 to combat the second spread of the novel coronavirus in the State, Village Panchayats from my Constituency, namely, V.P. Penha de Franca and V.P. Salvador do Mundo have declared a complete lock down in their Panchayat areas from 1st May to 09th May 2021.”
Khaunte said that this is done in an attempt to break the chain of spread of this mutant COVID infection as Povorim is one of the super-spreaders in the State of Goa.
“This step is similar to the steps taken by the respective Village Panchayats/Municipalities under Calangute, Margao, Mapusa and others Constituencies of the State experiencing rapid surge in COVID cases”.
“As per the Health Statistics, Porvorim stands in the top super- spreaders of COVID in the State and therefore the Panchayats of Penha de Franca and Salvador do Mundo are attempting to bring down this figure which also allows breathing space for the health infrastructure in our area,” Khaunte said.
“However, since the entire Constituency is a super – spreader, this lock down would be effective only if the Village Panchayat of Socorro, which is an integral part my Constituency, is also made a part of this lock down protocol.”
“On imposing the lock down, we can once again review the situation on 9th May and take appropriate action thereafter.”
Khaunte said that on 29/04/2021, these concerns were discussed at length with the Deputy Collector IAS Smt. Mamu Hage, Deputy Superintendent Shri. Edwin Colaco, Health Officials and Sarpanches of the V.P. Panchayats of Porvorim and we are all of the firm opinion that Porvorim as a Constituency needs immediate target action to reduce the infection.
“During the presentation of the Deputy Collector on the pattern of spread of the double mutant virus, she expressed that there is no specific area in the Constituency where the spread can be identified, but in fact this virus has spread across the entire Constituency with all three Panchayat areas.”
“Therefore marking minor areas as containment zones will not serve the purpose. Hence, requirement of Panchayat level lock down is the immediate need of the hour. We need to built Panchayat level restrictions in order to stop the spread.”
15 DAYS LOCKDOWN IS A MUST: KHAUNTE
He further wrote:“In furtherance to my previous correspondences on this issue to your office, I continue to stand by my opinion to have a 15-days complete lock down of the State which would help us rectify our statistics. In view of the situation in my Constituency, I urge the requirement of a strict lock down for each Panchayat area to break the fast spread of this double mutant virus.
Therefore, I request you to urgently provide necessary support in the form of directions to the Collector – North, Police, Health and other concerned officials in order to ensure that this lock down is implemented and strictly followed considering the rising cases of COVID in our area.”
