The Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA) has decided to install 133 solar street lights in Anjuna village and surprisingly all the streetlights will come up in only one ward of the panchayat, which is made up of 11 wards.
In a tender notice issued on Monday, the GEDA invited tenders for design, manufacture, supply, installation, testing and commissioning of solar street lighting systems (SSLs) with a comprehensive maintenance contract for five years.
Specifying the details in the notice, the department has called for installation of single-arm SSLs at 133 locations in Ward 5 of village panchayat of Anjuna.
Similarly, it has also called for installation of 16 such single-arm, 12 two-arms and 4 four- arms SSLs at Saleri and Shalbag in village panchayat of Khola in Canacona.
The last date for submission of the tender is on September 27 while the bid has been scheduled for opening on September 29 in the GEDA office.
The financial expenses for installation of the SSLs will have to be borne by the local panchayat. While the panchayat had sent a proposal of Rs 10 lakh for the street light project, the estimated amount for installation of 133 SSLs comes to around Rs 32 lakh.
The Goan investigation has revealed that the Anjuna panchayat had passed a resolution in August 2021 to install SSLs outside the individual houses numbering 133, all in Ward 5.
The ward was then represented by Pratima Govekar who has been re-elected as a panchayat member in the ward in the recent panchayat elections.
Sources in the panchayat informed that former Anjuna sarpanch Savio Almeida had given a green signal to the proposal at a time when panchayat elections were fast approaching.
The Member Secretary of GEDA, Joglekar informed that his department was the only implementing authority and has gone strictly as per the resolution forwarded by the panchayat to the department.
“The panchayat has sent us a resolution with the list of 133 houses where the street lights have to be installed. We have, accordingly, drawn the estimate and issued the tender for the same,” Joglekar said.
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Decision will send wrong message, tender must be withdrawn: Sarpanch
MAPUSA: Admitting that installing 133 street lights in only one ward will send a wrong signal to the people in the State, Anjuna Sarpanch Laxmidas Chimulkar said the newly elected body of Anjuna panchayat has decided to write to GEDA to cancel and withdraw the tender as the panchayat plans to review the previous decision and accommodate all wards in the village.
Chimulkar also said the tender was erroneous as the panchayat had decided to contribute only Rs 10 lakh for the street lights while the GEDA drew an estimate of Rs 32 lakh.
“The resolution to install 133 street lights in only one ward was taken by the previous body. It is not fair and will pass a wrong message to the people. We have decided to review the decision of the previous panchayat body and distribute the street lights in all 11 wards,” Chimulkar said.
He said the tendering process was not in sync with the decision of the panchayat which was ready to contribute only Rs 10 lakh for the street lights.
“The panchayat secretary will write to GEDA to keep the tender in abeyance as the panchayat is in the process of taking fresh resolution in the matter,” he said.
