MARGAO
Plagued by the acute problem of plastic waste in the commercial capital, the Margao Municipal Council has resolved to ban plastic in the jurisdiction of the civic body.
The council also discussed a proposal to hand over the construction of the multi-level car parking project to the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA).
During discussions on ban on plastic initiated by Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai, councillor Arthur D’Silva pointed out that the Margao municipality had banned the use of plastic in the markets earlier too without any success and demanded to know the purpose of getting the item on the agenda again.
Councillor Ketan Kurtarkar maintained that the municipality should write to the government to ban the manufacture of the plastic bags instead of making the local bodies order a crackdown on the use of plastic bags.
On the multi-level car parking project, the council has passed a resolution to ask GSUDA to take up the project given that the tenders floated by the civic body had no bidders.
Chairperson Babita Prabhudesai attributed the situation to the GSR rates, saying the old GSR rates have forced many a contractor to stay away from placing their bids.
Councillor Damu Naik demanded that the council clear the encroachments from the city, especially on Sundays, with Chairperson saying the Chief Officer and other officials should take steps to keep the encroachers at bay.
