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MAPUSA
The Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) on Thursday gave a go-ahead for the installation of a life-sized statue of Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj opposite the Hutatma Chowk in Mapusa.
The council gave its seal of approval to the proposal of Rotary Club of Mapusa to install a 12-foot bronze statue of Shivaji Maharaj on horseback, provided the club places a proper design of the statue and gets prior sanction of the council before starting the installation work.
Along with the statue, the proposal of Rotary Club of Mapusa also includes beautification of the road median from Hutatma Chowk to Gandhi Chowk costing around Rs 40 lakh.
The council also made it clear that after completion of work, the statue has to be handed over to the municipal council.
Former chairperson Sandip Falari said the council can give its sanction to the plan provided a design of the statue is provided to the council beforehand.
“In principle nod can be given to the proposal with a condition that the Rotary Club provides the final design of the statue to the civic body and get the approval of the council on the design,” Falari said.
He said in the past the council had to face an unpleasant experience after installing the statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar near the old municipality.
He recalled there were protests against the statue after its installation as it did not resemble Dr Ambedkar and finally the statue had to be replaced.
The former chairperson also suggested that once the installation of the statue and beautification work was completed, the Rotary club should hand it over to the civic body.
The council also decided to take up two major works to utilize funds of Rs 1.60 crore received from the 14th Finance Commission.
After a brief discussion, the civic body decided to take up widening of road along with footpath from the court junction to Trajano D’Mello’s house in Peddem and another work to construct a pedestrian footpath from the base of St Xavier’s College to the entrance of Housing Board.
On the issue of community toilets, several councilors expressed their displeasure against the concept of bio-toilets, but preferred to stick to the time and tested method of constructing normal toilets.
The council finally decided to form a committee of councilors which will go into the pros and cons of public toilets and accordingly, give suggestions to the council.
MMC plans holidays for Milagres Feast, Bodgeshwar Zatra
MAPUSA: The Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) has unanimously agreed to a proposal of MMC chairperson Ryan Braganza to declare the first day of Milagres Feast and Shree Dev Bodgeshwar zatra in Mapusa as a holiday.
The resolution will now be sent to the State government and the day could be notified as a restricted holiday for government officials and the schools in the city.
