PANAJI
"A meeting of all seven Bardez MLAs will be convened next week to identify a site for Ravindra Bhavan. Issues of parking and traffic will be considered. If government land is available, then we will immediately initiate the project and if not, we will seek to acquire the land," CM Parrikar assured the House.
Responding to a question tabled by Aldona MLA Glenn Ticlo over this issue, Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude informed that a task force committee has been constituted, which will identify suitable land for the establishment of Ravindra Bhavan in Bardez. Urban Development Minister Francisco D'Souza is one of the members of this committee.
"Acquisition is underway and we are in talks with several land owners and tenants. We are ready to initiate the project but we are only waiting for land to be identified," Gaude stated adding that minimum 10,000 to 12,000 sq mts of land is needed for this project.
Assuring the Aldona MLA further, CM Parrikar declared that upon the finalization of the Outline Development Plan for Mapusa by December 2017, first preference in land allotment will be accorded to the Ravindra Bhavan project.
Meanwhile, Tivim MLA Nilkanth Halarnkar and Margao MLA and former CM Digambar Kamat sought to remind the government that this demand has been pending for almost a decade and that several plots have been identified till date for the project including a site in Colvale Housing Board and one in the heart of Mapusa.
