MARGAO
After his election on Wednesday, newly-elected Margao Municipal Chairperson Damu Shirodkar has sought eight days to outline his priorities and prepare a road map over how to go about the work.
The new civic chief, however, has a task at hand “ how to address the perennial and burning issues staring at the city, ranging from the Sonsodo waste imbroglio to parking woes, rising population of strays, streamlining of municipal administration et al.
As the month-long hectic political drama, which witnessed twists and turns every day to wrest control over the civic body, finally ended in favour of the ruling BJP, the new civic chief will have to get down to brass tacks to address the issues plaguing the city. With around 16 months of the current five-year term already over and there’s no solution yet to the burning issues, the new civic chief is under focus on how he goes about addressing the problems.
Sonsodo and garbage mess
The new chief has a task to address the garbage tangle - both on the door-to-door waste collection front and at the waste disposal site at Sonsodo. No one better than the civic chief knows that door-to-door waste is being collected by contractors on extensions. Though there may be no complaints against the door-to-door waste collection work, the civic body has been caught napping in tendering the works amounting to almost Rs five crore to date.
The situation at Sonsodo is no better. The civic chief must have understood the ground reality during his visit to Sonsodo moments after assuming office. The Sonsodo shed is still not repaired and rehabilitated, with the agencies yet to tender the work amounting to Rs seven crore. Similarly, the civic body is yet to tender the project to engage a private contractor to treat the daily waste generated in the city.
Parking issues
After failed deadlines to set up the long-awaited multi-level parking project from 2015, the civic body has entrusted the work to the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) for execution. It’s now seven years since the foundation stone for the parking lot was laid in 2015, but the new civic chief will have to take a call on whether the municipality should be content in having the multi-level parking lot or go for the development of at least one more parking facility to meet the growing requirements.
Stray dogs
As many as three municipal chairpersons presided over the affairs of the Margao Municipal Council since 2020 but the stray dogs' menace seemed out of the priority list. This has been amplified by the fact that though the Memorandum of Understanding between MMC and a city-based NGO expired on December 31, 2020, there were no efforts to ink a new agreement to date, even though the population of stray dogs have been rising by the day in the commercial capital.
Illegal gaddas and vending
Illegal gaddas and vending along the commercial capital’s roadside have raised their ugly head in a big way. Even the legal mobile gaddas, which are supposed to be towed back to the owner's residence, are slowly becoming a permanent feature at the prime posts, including the old bus stand and the area opposite the KTC bus stand. How the new civic chief will address this growing menace remains to be seen.
Municipal administration
The new civic chief has held out a promise to instil discipline among the municipal staff to provide a people-friendly administration. In fact, after assuming office, Damu has promised to hold a meeting with the municipal section heads to understand their issues before planning a people-friendly administration.
Kamat proves point to rival camp after Damu's election
MARGAO
Congress-turned-BJP Margao MLA Digambar Kamat Wednesday proved a point or two to the rival camp soon after his man Friday Damu Shirodkar was elected the new Margao Civic chief.
If Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai and workers of the regional party descended in the civic body on September 16 after Independent Ganashyam Shirodkar made it to the hot seat by defeating Damu Shirodkar, Wednesday witnessed the Margao MLA along with son Yogiraj and his close aides make his presence felt in the Municipal building.
In fact, if Goa Forward chief Vijai Sardesai had greeted Ganashyam with a flower bouquet at the civic body on September 16, Kamat joined the ruling councillors to congratulate Damu with a big flower garland.
That is not all. If Vijai and Goa Forward supporters with Ganashyam later headed to Pimpalkatta to pay respect to Lord Dambab on September 16, Kamat and newly-elected Chairperson Damu also kept a date with Pimpalkatta on Wednesday.
Shortly after the new Chairperson took over, Kamat with Damu and party-backed councillors walked from the municipal building to Pimplattaka, where they were joined by BJP Fatorda leader Damu Naik.
While terming the election of Damu Shirodkar as the new Margao municipal chief as on expected lines, Kamat said the BJP returned to the civic body once again.
Damu underscores need to set deadlines to tackle waste issue
MARGAO
Mounds of waste and trash welcomed newly-elected Margao Municipal Chairperson Damu Shirodkar on Wednesday. The new civic chief has underscored the need to set deadlines to address the waste management problem.
Soon after assuming office, the new MMC chairperson with councillors and officials headed to Sonsodo, where he reviewed and took stock of the situation at the dumping site.
The MMC Chairperson made it clear to the officials that everyone would have to work as per the deadlines to address the problem, promising to personally monitor the Sonsodo issue. “I want to make clear that unless we work as per set deadlines, we will never resolve the issue,” he said, even as he asked the officials to submit him a status report on Sonsodo by Thursday noon.
He added: “We have to take quick decisions and seek the help of the MLAs and the Chief Minister to resolve the Sonsodo mess.”
