MARGAO
Hazard a guess how many NOCs for water and electricity have been issued by the Margao Municipal Couincil for applicants under the Public Health Act till date?
Pose the question to the civic officials and do not be surprised if they feign ignorance of the number of NOCs issued by the civic body. A senior official pointed out that no separate register of the NOCs issued under the Public Health Act is maintained by the civic body, indicating one may be able to gather the information only after checking the general inward and outward registers of the Municipality.
Sources in the know, however, informed that the provision of the Public Health Act pertaining to issuance of NOCs for power and water connections have been violated with impunity by the powers that be and politicians to support their vote banks. Files containing applications from the offices of politicians to the civic body for issuance of the NOCs has been the order of the day over the years, sources said. “That the Municipality has not maintained a separate register for NOCs issued under the Public Health Act for structures, which are primarily illegal in nature goes to suggest the extent of illegalities”, remarked an official in the know.
The only time when the Municipality tightened the screws on issuance of NOCs under the Public Health Act was during the stint of then Chief Officer Rohit Kadam. In fact, Kadam had in 2022 used a 2021 circular issued by former Chief Secretary Parimal Rai to apply brakes on large scale issuance of NOCs for water and light connections. At that time, the MMC used to receive around 40-50 applications for NOCs for water and light connections under the Public Health Act.
The situation, sources said, returned back to square one after Kadam’s exit, with officials unable to specify the number of NOCs issued for light and water connections by the civic body.
