Whether chairpersons in Mapusa Municipal Council changed ornot, it had little impact on the developmental scenario of the city.
Strangely, over the years which ever chairperson took over,the council always remained firmly in the grip of Mapusa MLA, Francisco(Babush) D’Souza.
And that’s how Mapusa lost out on developmental front.
Except for a brief interlude of four to six months beforethe assembly election, when Ashish Shirodkar a borrowed NCP candidate and aknown Vishwajeet man took over as the chairperson, the council was always withthe BJP.
Soon after BJP government came to power, Ashish lost toBabush in the assembly and then lost his chairmanship.
Mapusa lost out majorly because its MLA was always in theopposition and the council with the BJP.
So now with the BJP panel ruling the council and the MLA inthe government there are high expectations.
With BJP-led government in power, MMC has got a boost tofructify plans to transform the city. Resolutions passed by the previouscouncil are now being implemented.
“Our council (Ashish Shirodkar as chairperson) which wasvoted out in March had passed three major resolutions -- renovation of ChachaNehru Park, beautification of Taxi Stand and renovation of St Mary’s Schoolbuilding. After eight months the council has finally begun work in thatdirection,” said former chairperson and councillor, Michael Carrasco.
Work on Chacha Nehru Park was going on at snail’s pace whiletaxi stand work has just begun, he added.
Another opposition councillor and former chairperson,Subhash Narvekar termed the present ongoing works as “facelift”.
“Most of the works that are going on were proposed by theprevious (Ashish Shirodkar’s) council and not the present one,” Narvekar said.
“Many other major works may be in the pipeline. But all thatrequires money. Lets see from where, how and when the money will come,” he saidwith sarcasm written all over his face.
According to Narvekar the city needs to urgently tacklecongestion and parking problem, which is caused due to narrow roads. Sanitationis another issue that begs for attention, especially the nullha behind marketwhich has become a breeding place for mosquitoes.
Chairperson of Mapusa Municipal Council, Sudhir Kandolkar isconfident that development will take place, as number of projects are in thepipeline through various government departments.
