MARGAO
Newly-elected Margao Municipal Chairperson Ganashyam Shirodkar got down to work on Saturday, a day after his election, descending at the Sonsodo waste management site to take stock of the situation.
The MMC chairperson said he would call on the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s intervention in view of his status as Chairman of the High Powered Coordination Committee (HPCC) on Sonsodo to help the civic body to cap the garbage issue.
Incidentally, only the Goa Forward-backed Margao Municipal councillors turned up for the inspection at Sonsodo, with the Chairperson saying the remaining 15 councillors were conspicuous by their absence for reasons best known to them.
Addressing the media after the inspection, Ganashyam said he has returned to Sonsodo after a gap of 12 years, reminding that he had a meeting of councillors at Sonsodo as Chairperson of the civic body a decade ago.
Unveiling plans to clean up Sonsodo within two years, the MMC Chairperson said Sonsodo will no longer be an eyesore, saying the place will be rid of the eyesore and facilitate people to have evening walk around.
He promised to devote half a day at Sonsodo and to monitor the waste management, making a fervent plea to all the City Fathers as well as NGOs and activists to visit the site and make suggestions. “I am not interested in the chair. I want to work for the city. That’s the reason why I said after my election that I would accord priority to Sonsodo,” he added.
Saying he would seek cooperation of all the three MLAs, Vijai Sardesai, Digambar Kamat and Reginaldo Lourenco to put Margao in place, Ganashyam assured citizens in general that they can look forward for good days, promising to live up to their expectations.
The MMC Chairperson said Margao will see a change in the garbage management within the first 100 days of his tenure. “You will see the difference in the city in 100 days, i.e. in the new year, not just on the garbage front, but all on several fronts,” he said, adding that he will be moving forward to work for the city with the blessings of the Almighty.
He added: “I have no ego. With the Chief Minister as the Chairman of the HPCC, I will go to Pramod Sawant for help to address the burning garbage issue.”
Ganashyam and his councillors later descended at the Lohia Maidan where he paid his respects to Dr Ram Manohar Lohia and later made a fervent plea to Madgavkars to support the civic body to clean up Margao. “I will soon come up with a list of projects for implementation in the city within 100 days,” he added.
