MARGAO
Margao Municipal Council is no match to the country’s richest civic body, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, whose revenue receipts may be equivalent to the annual budget of a smaller Indian State, warranting the political players to fight for supremacy in the civic body.
The A-Class Margao Municipal body does not even enjoy the status of a Corporation a la the City Corporation of Panaji, the lone Municipal Corporation in the State of Goa, throwing up a simple question “ why then is the political class so keen on wresting control over the civic body, that even the Municipal Act proposed to be tweaked via an Ordinance for the safe election of the civic chief?
Or, is the election for the MMC chairperson simply a battle for prestige between the ruling dispensation headed by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and Congress-turned-BJP MLA Digambar on one side and the opposition led by the Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai, more so after the BJP’s shock defeat in the election for the civic chief, leaving the saffron party embarrassed.
Or, is there something more than meets the eye that has brought the political players face-to-face to control the civic body, in a bid to influence the decision-making process through a friendly civic chief on a host of questions, ranging from tendering of garbage management works running into crores of rupees to filling up of a host of vacancies in the civic body, or simply the development of prime properties owned by the government and the civic body et al.
Madgavkars and Fatordekars may seek answers to many an unanswered question as the ruling and opposition groups brace up to outwit each other ahead of the elections scheduled mid-next week.
‘Kamat eyeing chairperson not hostile to his interests’
After returning to the ruling BJP fold after severing his 17-year-old ties with the Congress, political observers say Congress-turned-BJP MLA Digambar Kamat may not like a hostile chairperson heading the Margao Municipal, more so Goa Forward-backed Independent Ganashyam Shirodkar, as he braces up to play another innings as a Minister in the BJP-led government.
The reasons could be many. For, the seven-time Margao MLA may have joined the ruling dispensation with an agenda in mind for the city, including infrastructure development. In the event Kamat bags the prized Urban Development portfolio, sources say the Margao MLA will preside over the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA), giving him the power and authority to bring projects to the city. There’s, however, a big catch -- that GSUDA can implement projects in a Municipal area, only with resolutions adopted by the local civic body. This brings to the fore the question, of whether Kamat is eyeing a chairperson of his choice to head the Margao civic body not hostile to his interests.
Council braces up to spend Finance Commission funds on waste mgnt
Flushed with funds under the 14th and 15th Finance Commission, the Margao Municipal Council is bracing up to spend funds amounting to crores of rupees on waste management at Sonsodo. The government has proposed to set up bio-digesters or bio-methanation plants at Sonsodo to address the waste imbroglio, but with Municipal funds under the Finance Commission. The state-of-the-art garbage plants are estimated to cost crores of rupees. Already, allegations have been doing the rounds in the corridors of the civic body that interested private players are already on the job, lobbying hard to bag the prized contract to set up the plants.
That’s not all. The Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) has also drawn up plans to tone up the existing infrastructure at the Sonsodo waste management plant. Renovation of the existing waste management shed, construction of the Sonsodo road and appointment of a contractor to treat the daily waste till the bio-methanation plants take shape is expected to cost the civic body crores of rupees. Taken together, waste management at Sonsodo is expected to cost the civic body around Rs 50 crore.
GSUDA for friendly Council to develop municipal properties
The Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) owns a couple of properties, indeed prime properties in the Margao Municipal area, which remain idle to date. Sources said if the GSUDA decides to develop the properties, a friendly Council will only come in handy to facilitate the development of these prime properties, running into crores of rupees, whether departmentally or via the Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.
Acid test for new MMC chief on waste collection contract
Margao Municipal Council’s door-to-door waste collection tender has come a cropper again, giving yet another extension for the two private contractors, which ends in October. The door-to-door waste collection contract, estimated at a whopping Rs 5 crore, is up for grabs and the responsibility to float the new tender will fall on the new civic chief. Some of the councillors have made an unprecedented demand that the existing contractors be given the Rs 5 crore contract via nomination without tender. Already, reports have been doing the rounds in the corridors of the civic body that a couple of councillors have developed an interest in the door-to-door waste collection contract. This is one area the new civic chief will come under scanner after assuming office.
Politicos set eyes on 120 jobs up for grabs in MMC
Around 120 jobs are up for grabs in the Margao civic body, including LDCs, some of which will be filled up via direct recruitment and others through departmental promotions. Sources in the know say these jobs have been reportedly eyed by the political class, including City Fathers.
Speculations have been doing the rounds in the corridors of the civic body that at least two councillors have decided to cast their vote for the side promising jobs to their children, raising the jobs for vote ghost in the civic body.
