MARGAO
The ongoing cold war between Margao Civic Chief Damu Shiordkar and Chief Officer Gaurish Sankhwalkar burst into the open on Wednesday as the Chairperson went to the media to squarely blamed the Chief officer for the Sonsodo incident, but accused the CO for playing politics in the Civic body.
At a hurriedly called media briefing, a visibly agitated Damu even threatened to lock the Chief Officer’s chamber from Thursday if the officer do not mend his ways and take the Chairperson into confidence.
Blaming the Chief Officer for the Sonsodo incident, he charged the Chief Officer for trying to make the garbage truck drivers the scapegoat when the civic body has drafted a Junior Engineer, a sanitary inspector and a supervisor to monitor Sonsodo on a day to day basis. “The Municipal Engineer had received a video showing the flow of leachate at Sonsodo on Monday. If that is true, then it was the responsibility of the officials drafted at Sonsodo to attend to the problem”, he said.
Damu, however, said that the Chief Officer instead instructed a Municipal mechanical engineer to seek explanation from the truck drivers to fix responsibility. “The Chief Officer should fix responsibility on the officials instead of targeting the garbage truck drivers. He has gone to the media blaming the drivers but has spoken nothing against the officials appointed at Sonsodo to work in rotation”, he said.
He then went hammer and thongs against the Chief Officer, publicly charging Sankhwalkar of playing politics. “If the Chief Officer intends to play politics, he should sit on my chair and do so. He is an officer and should not dabble in politics”, he said, warning that he would lock the Chief Officer’s Chamber and make him work from his cabin if the officer does not mend his ways.
He added: “I have briefed my leader Digambar Kamat on the Chief Officer’s functioning. I will also complain to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant against the Chief Officer, who does not take me into confidence in respect of High Court matters. He did not even inform me before going to Sonsodo today”.
The MMC Chairperson did not spare the Chief Officer over the ensuing feast fair at Old market, beginning from December 8. “The Chief Officer has issued an order to constitute a committee to oversee the fair when I have been behind him to take a call around 20 days ago”, he added.
