MAPUSA
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has assured to call a meeting of key departments to take action on a war footing against the water hyacinth that has invaded the Mapusa river.
While interacting with Mapusa Chairperson Shubanghi Vaigankar and a group of councilors in presence of Mapusa MLA Johsua D’Souza, Sawant has also assured to take forward the process of preparing the smart city master plan for Mapusa.
“There is a need to take immediate action against the invasive weed which has been growing and spreading rapidly in the river. There is a huge threat to marine life if the deadly weed is not tackled on time. The chief minister has assured us to hold a meeting of all concerned departments to discuss the water hyacinth issue and find a solution to the problem,” said Shubhangi Vaigankar, Chairperson of Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC).
The MMC chairperson and a group of ruling councilors along with local MLA, Joshua D’Souza met the chief minister in his office at ‘Paryatan Bhavan’, Panaji.
Vaigankar informed that they had gone to congratulate Sawant for his election as the CM of the State after the stupendous performance of the BJP in the recent assembly polls.
She claimed that freshwater from the Tillari canal was making its way into the Mapusa river thus destabilizing the salinity of the river and giving rise to the water hyacinth.
“We have visited some places in Tivim through which the Tillari canal passes supplying water for agriculture. At several places the canal water overflows and in some cases due to leakage in the canal the water enters into the river,” she said.
She further informed that the municipality along with the concerned departments was trying to find a way to resolve the issue at the earliest.
“We have also taken the local volunteers from Aldona and surrounding villages into confidence so that we can collectively tackle the issue,” she stated.
The chairperson also informed that they discussed the issue of the Mapusa smart city master plan and the appointment of a consultant for the project with the chief minister.
“The CM has told us that he has been in constant touch with our MLA about the master plan and necessary steps will be taken on the project,” she said.
It may be recalled that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said that Mapusa smart city master plan would be initiated before the model code of conduct for 2022 assembly polls comes into force.
He had also said that a tender to that effect would also be floated by the GSIDC.
