File photo of the demolition operation launched by the Cuncolim Municipality to raze coconut trees and other encroachments from the acquired land near the Cuncolim bus stand.
MARGAO
In March 2017, the Cuncolim Municipal Council had cleared all encroachments from the land acquired by the civic body near the bus stand, following the Supreme Court’s dismissal of a Special Leave Petition filed by a farmer claiming rights over the property.
The land, acquired in the late 2000s, was earmarked for the construction of an administrative complex intended to bring various government departments — including the Cuncolim Municipal Council office — under one roof. However, more than a decade and half now, the plot remains idle, with no progress on the proposed project.
Earlier this year, Cuncolim MLA Yuri Alemao proposed establishing a 16-bedded Urban Health Centre on the same land to provide basic healthcare facilities for residents within the Cuncolim municipal area. Despite an inspection of the site conducted by the MLA and government officials in January to advance the proposal, no tangible progress has been made since.
This prolonged inaction has led to growing public concern over why the original plan to set up an administrative complex was abandoned, especially since such a facility would have streamlined civic administration by housing multiple departments in one location.
Currently, the Cuncolim Municipal Council continues to operate from a cramped, nearly 40-year-old building that has long outlived its utility. Despite acknowledging its deteriorating condition, plans to relocate municipal offices to the Cuncolim Municipality Commercial Centre have also failed to materialize, for reasons best known to the civic authorities and higher powers.
Adding to the controversy, the acquired land briefly became the centre of public outrage a few years ago when the civic body approved its use for placing garbage bins — a decision that was quickly reversed following backlash.
Today, residents are questioning whether the land next to the bus stand could accommodate both the long-delayed administrative complex and the proposed health centre. More broadly, concerns persist over why land acquired more than a decade and a half ago remains underutilized, even after the Municipality cleared all encroachments back in 2017.
Eight years after that clearance, the prime civic plot continues to lie vacant — a silent reminder of stalled public projects and unfulfilled promises.
