MARGAO
In fact, 27 years after the Managing committee of the St Francis Xavier Chapel at Madel had first mooted the proposal to the District Magistrate, South to relocate the Chapel from the road side to facilitate widening of the road between KTC bus stand-Old Market circle, there’s finally a ray of hope that the Chapel will be relocated on the Margao municipal acquired land at Madel, opposite the KTC bus stand.
Thursday saw Margao Municipal officials demarcating around 700-odd square meters of land the acquired land for the proposed St Francis Xavier Chapel, marking the long-drawn process, which had begun around 2000 when the Chapel Committee had volunteered to shift the Chapel from the present location to facilitate road widening.
Incidentally, when the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (had executed the Ambaji-Agalli road widening works two years ago, the shifting of the St Francis Xavier chapel was also contained in the tender. However, the shifting could not take place after the GSIDC foreclosed the tender.
Town and Country Planning Minister, and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai, however, told the media that with Manohar Parrikar-returning back as the Chief Minister, the government has now agreed to build the Chapel after its shifting to the new place.
“When I took up the matter with the Chief Minister, explaining to him that the GSIDC had earlier proposed to build the
Chapel before the Ambaji-Agalli road widening project was foreclosed, Parrikar has agreed in principle to honour the commitment and has assured to build the Chapel after the relocation,” Sardesai told the media.
The TCP Minister clarified that the Chapel shifting and reconstruction project is not pushed down the people of Madel, saying the project is being initiated
with the consent of the people by taking the Chapel Managing Committee into confidence.
