CANACONA
The Canacona Municipal Council (CMC) on Tuesday resolved to scrap house numbers allotted by the previous council to those unregistered houses after claiming that those structures did not have administrative approval.
The first official council meet to transact business was chaired by CMC Chairperson Simon Rebello in the presence of Chief Officer Udhay Prabhudesai. Ten councillors were present at the meeting, while councillors Laxuman Pagui and Hemant Kumar Naikgaunkar were absent.
Chaudi Councillor Ramakant Naikgaunkar stated that the previous council had allotted house numbers to several houses not registered with the council, without taking the chief officer's approval.
Since administrative sanction was not obtained before allotting these house numbers, Naikgaunkar demanded the scrapping of house numbers to those structures.
It may be recalled that the State government had decided to allot house numbers to unregistered house to generate revenue and houses were regularised in many parts of the state following this directive, sources said.
The CMC also passed a resolution to ensure that the administration keeps the chairperson abreast of actions taken on applications of public.
As per general administrative practice, all inward correspondence is first sent to the chairperson for perusal and the correspondence is then marked by the chief officer to the sections concerned.
Claiming that the chairperson is generally kept in the dark on the follow up action taken on a particular application, the councillors said aggrieved applicants have sometimes gone to the court to challenge the CMC’s decision, which has compelled the council to bear expenses for the litigations.
The CMC resolved that in order to maintain administrative transparency, applications initially seen by the chairperson should come back to the chairperson to be aware of action initiated in the matter.
Devabaga-Palolem councillor Sara Desai stated that during the previous term of the council, Rs 14 lakh had been withdrawn to construct of 2-3 gutters at Bhagatwada, but no construction had taken place.
She demanded an enquiry into the withdrawal of Rs 14 lakh from council funds and the council passed a resolution to investigate the matter.
Incidentally, Bhagatwada was earlier represented by the former Chairperson and present Sawantwada Councillor Nitu Desai.
The CMC had also resolved to produce biogas at the Garbage Treatment Plant at Dumane to generate power at the GTP to operate different systems.
The councillors also deliberated on ongoing pre-monsoon preparatory works in coordination with councillors in different parts of Canacona municipality.
