MARGAO
In a major development bringing the contentious issue of kabrastan for the Muslim community back on the centrestage, Margao Municipal Chief Officer Agnelo Fernandes on Wednesday has raised a pointed query to the Municipal chairperson “ how come land in the jurisdiction of the Navelim panchayat can be acquired by the Margao Municipal Council to set up the proposed burial ground in the adjoining village?
Even as the Muslim community has upped the ante for a kabrastan on the Margao Municipal acquired land at Sonsodo, the MMC Chief Officer’s host of questions to the MMC chairperson has indeed brought the burning issue of the Muslim community on the centrestage ahead of the ensuing polls.
Days after the Municipal Chairperson Lyndon Pereira stuck to the decision of the previous MMC resolution that the kabrastan will be set up at Sirvodem-Margao by acquiring land spread across Margao and adjoining Navelim village, the Chief Officer raised a host of questions for the chairperson to clarify.
One, Agnelo has sought to know whether the land proposed to be acquired at Sirvodem has been acquired by the government, with a pointed query to the chairperson to answer how the land in the jurisdiction of Navelim panchayat can be acquired by the Margao Municipal Council.
That’s not all. The Chief Officer sought to know from the civic chief whether the land sought to be acquired at Sirvodem and Navelim has the approval from the Navelim village panchayat, further seeking to know whether the Navelim gram sabha has given the nod for the Margao Municipality to acquire the land in Navelim village.
Amongst other questions, the Chief Officer further sought to know whether the land in question is in possession of the panchayat or government and whether the SGPDA has taken government permission for using public utility for crematorium purpose.
Saying these questions need to be clarified by the Council, the Chief Officer has stressed on the need to place the kabrastan proposal before the Council meeting for deliberation and action.
The Chief Officer’s questions may come to haunt the Margao Municipal Council controlled by the Goa Forward and Congress, more so when the previous Goa Forward-controlled Council had taken the decision to set up the kabrastan at Sirvodem and Navelim village. The Council’s resolution later saw changes on the Margao ODP 2028 wherein the land acquired by the MMC at Sonsodo was notified for group housing and to set up a power sub-station, scrapping the proposal to set up the kabrastan at the Sonsodo land.
