MARGAO
Even as the Margao Municipal Council is scheduled to take a call on whether to approach the Supreme Court for relief vis-Ã -vis the BS4 engine trucks, the Shadow Council for Margao has demanded fixing of responsibility for the Rs 38 lakh loss in purchase of three BS4 engine banned trucks.
The SCM has further demanded to make those responsible deposit the Supreme Court advocate fees with the Council as advance.
The issue over the BS4 engine trucks had rocked the Margao Municipal Council last year after the issue was raised by councillor Ganashyam Shirodkar. Sadly, since then, the issue has not been addressed even though legal experts say the only way out to resolve the problem is to knock on the doors of the Supreme Court.
SCM convener Savio Coutinho stated that the BS4 trucks were purchased in undue hurry at the time when the Supreme Court was on the verge of banning vehicles having such engines on account of pollution control measures. SCM charged that the Council, being well aware of this fact, opted to purchase these trucks in connivance with the vested interests and allegedly upon receiving kickbacks.
Confounding his charges, Coutinho stated that, “We have to make the above charge on the basis of several documents obtained from the Council, and more specifically the reply filed before the Principal Account General (Audit), Goa, stating that the former Chairperson of Margao Municipal Council Dr Babita Angle Prabhudesai, had given directions to make the said purchase without following the laid down codal formalities.”
Coutinho revealed further that the invoices issued to the Council, against which around Rs 37.50 lakh was paid to the dealer, are either fake or invalid as the same have not been registered on the E-Vahan portal. And this is the primary reason why the vehicles cannot be registered by the RTO, he informed.
The SCM demanded that the responsibility for the huge losses suffered by the Council should be fixed, and those responsible should be made to deposit the fees of the Supreme Court advocate in advance. Upon any order granting permission for the registration of the vehicles, the fees deposited should be refunded, SCM suggests.
