the goan I network
MARGAO
Margao Municipal Council on Thursday auctioned the sopo collection tender for a whopping amount of Rs 65.17 lakh, but the entire sopo exercise now hangs in balance as the auction is now subject to the outcome of a writ petition pending in the High Court.
As per the High Court order, the Municipality was allowed to proceed with the auction, but with a clear condition that the civic body shall not allot the tender till June 6, the next date of hearing of the appeal filed by one Ravindra Velip.
Given the unusual situation facing the Municipality on the issue of sopo auction, Chief Officer Johnson Fernandes has asked the highest bidder Aaron Costa Fernandes to temporarily collect the market fee only for a period of seven days, from June 1-7 for which purpose the civic body has offered to pay to the Council a sum of Rs 1.77 lakh, which is inclusive of 18 per cent GST.
Petitioner Ravindra Velip had moved the High Court with a petition challenging the clause of two-year experience that was made pre-requisite for the auction process. The appeal filed by Ravindra Velip assumes significance since the move by the civic body to insert the two-year experience was viewed as an attempt to get certain parties out of the sopo auction.
This is perhaps the first time ever that the sopo auction has gone for an amount of Rs 65.17 lakh and that too for a period of 304 days, beginning from June 1.
While many in the civic body have attributed the sopo auction finishing at Rs 65.17 lakh to the decision of the civic body to revise the sopo rates, the Shadow Council of Margao has demanded that the elected Council is required to explain the reasons as to why they have been so generous to the outgoing contractor in the past.
