South Goa District Collector Egna Cleetus, along with Haj Committee chairman Urfan Mulla and other officials, inspecting the Sonsodo land acquired for the kabrastan. Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO
With the Assembly election just three monthsaway, the contentious issue of the kabrastan was back in the news on Monday,this time after South Goa District Collector Egna Cleetus, along with DeputyCollector Ganesh Barve and other officials, visited Sonsodo to take stock ofthe situation.
Accompanied by other officials and Goa HajCommittee chairman Urfan Mulla, the Collector reviewed the land acquired forthe kabrastan by the Margao Municipal Council exactly 15 years ago, in November2011.
Why the Collector conducted the suddeninspection was a subject of debate, since the matter is under the scrutiny of theHigh Court. In fact, the High Court has been awaiting an affidavit from thePublic Works Department setting out a timeline for how the department plans togo about constructing the burial ground for the Muslim community at Sonsodo.
The PWD has come into the picture after theGoa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) withdrew from the project,expressing its inability to execute the work on the kabrastan as per the HighCourt’s directions issued in October 2022.
The South Goa District Collector told The Goanthat the officials visited Sonsodo just to take stock of the situation, sincethe MMC had acquired land for the burial ground.
The inspection was also attended by BobbyMatur, chairman of the Kabrastan Committee; Imtiyaz Bepari, executive member ofJama Masjid; and Hyder Sha, BJP State Minority Morcha chief.
Haj Committee chairman Urfan Mulla said thevisit focused on inspecting the site and discussing matters concerning thekabrastan. “This is a positive step towards addressing the concerns of the Muslimcommunity,” Mulla said.
He demanded an inquiry into the attempt tobuild low-cost housing on the acquired land at Sonsodo when the MargaoMunicipal Council had specifically acquired 30,000 square metres of land forthe kabrastan.
Saying that BJP State chief Damu Naik hadtaken up the Sonsodo issue with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for a solution,Mulla expressed confidence that the long-pending issue would finally beresolved by the government.
