MARGAO
After maintaining a stoic silence over the last few days, Margao civic chief Damu Shirodkar on Friday told Benaulim Aam Admi Party MLA Venzy Viegas that he need not tell whether he should step down from office and who should be his successor in the Margao civic body.
The MMC chairperson further pointed out that the municipality decided to dump the garden waste and waste mixed with mud at Benaulim only after discussing the matter with the contractor executing work on the western bypass. During an interaction with the media, the MMC chief said, “The Benaulim MLA need not tell who should be the chairperson of the Margao Municipal Council. We have the senior leader, MLA Digambar Kamat, who is capable of taking decisions. Kamat along with former MLA Damu Naik are senior leaders, who are capable of making decisions,” he said, adding that only Digambar Kamat and Damu Naik will decide on the MMC leadership issue and no one else.
The MMC chairperson was reacting to Venzy’s statement made earlier this week that the MMC chairperson should quit office and make way for a young councillor to take over the reins of the office. The Benaulim MLA had squarely blamed the MMC chairperson for disposing of the Margao waste into Benaulim against the dictates of the Margao MLA.
Damu Shirodkar, however, pointed out that the decision to dump the garden waste at Benaulim was taken after discussing the matter with the western bypass contractor as it was decided that the garden waste, not mixed garbage, would be capped with mud.
Colmorod case: SC dismisses SLP
The Margao Municipal Council won yet another battle in the Colmorod case after the Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a Special Leave Petition (SLP) filed in the apex court against the order of the High Court.
Margao civic chief Damu Shirodkar told the media that the High Court order in the road matter, wherein the court had earlier directed the MMC to deposit an amount of Rs 2.73 crore, had gone in favour of the civic body. “Against the order of the High Court, the party had filed a plea in the Supreme Court, which did not find favour with the court. Our lawyer Adv Parag Rao called me from Delhi to communicate that the SLP filed by the party has been dismissed by the Supreme Court,” he said.
Expressing satisfaction over the outcome of the legal battle in the High Court and the Supreme Court, Damu said the MMC had honoured the directions of the High Court by building the road at Colmord within the time frame and has filed a report in the court. He said the MMC has also filed an application in the High Court for the refund of the amount of Rs 2.73 crore deposited in the court.
