INTRO: What will the Margao municipal council be remembered for? Baring the waste treatment plant, the present council has nothing to write home about. It has failed on several fronts and its chief pre-occupation has been the game of musical chairs, writes In the last five years the council has had five chairpersons.
If the Margao Municipal Council was asked to list the major achievement in the commercial capital in the last five years, it would require just one finger. Ask the city fathers and don’t be surprised to find them just beating around the bush. While some, including chairperson Arthur D’Silva claim credit for commissioning of the waste treatment plant at Sonsodo and initiating the door-to-door waste collection programme in the city a year ago, Margao is not yet free from the garbage menace.
As the incumbent council goes to the polls in October, it has virtually has no major achievement to boast about during the current term. Name them, and almost all the issues -- parking, solid waste management, stray dogs, encroachments, gadda rehabilitation et al, remain unresolved till date.
Take the case of vehicular parking. There will be no dearth of resolutions in the municipal record books on the parking project.Unlike other towns and cities, Margao is blessed with three open spaces in the heart of the town, but multi-storey parking lots on these spaces still remain a distant dream. There were promises galore in the last five years on the parking front, but neither have these three open spaces been developed till date, nor has parking become a reality on the municipality acquired land in the old market area. Plans by the municipality to utilize the golden jubilee funds to construct a multi-storey parking project at the old fish market behind the municipal building has come a cropper so far.
The civic body could not put in place an overhead water tank to beef up the fire-fighting arrangements in and around the congested and fire prone new market complex.
The stray dog menace is another case in point. It’s now over eight months since the memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the civic body and city-based South Goa Welfare Trust for Animals had expired, but the council has shown no haste in either renewing the agreement or to release payments for the NGO. In the absence of dedicated and concerted efforts to tackle the menace, the population of stray dogs has not shown any appreciable decline over the years.
Accusing fingers were pointed councillors for their failure to put the municipal administration on the rails. Crores of rupees of outstanding tax arrears stare at the civic body with half-hearted attempts to tone up the recovery system coming a cropper. That the municipality had to go for premature withdrawal of fixed deposits to pay the staff employees indicates that all is not well with the municipal coffers.
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: The present body was instrumental in putting a waste management plant in place.It’s only two years since the plant was commissioned on a trial basis and the municipality needs to tone up the infrastructural requirements to make the plant a success.
: As I have said earlier, the municipality has made a beginning on the garbage front by setting up a plant and starting door-to-door collection. But, we have to improve and streamline the system. As far as the multi-storey parking project is concerned, I suspect the project is being sabotaged by vested interests in the SGPDA. I do not know whether the file concerning the project is kept pending by vested interests who did not want the credit to go for the civic body.
: I feel the civic body was starved of funds during the last five years. I do not think that Margao Municipality has received more than Rs 5 crore during the five year period. I am of the strong opinion that since Margao, being the commercial capital, contributes huge revenue to the state, a portion of the revenue should come back to the civic body. The municipality should receive at least Rs 5 crore every year to resolve the long-pending issues plaguing the city.
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While a waste treatment plant is put in place a Sonsodo,the waste problem remains unresolved. No decision yet taken on capping or segregation of existing waste.
The civic body is struggling to keep the exercise going.At many places, door-to-door collection has collapsed.
Despite the city being blessed by three open spaces, multi-storey parking is still a pipe dream. Even the land acquired bythe civic body opposite the KTC bus stand remains unutilised for parking.
MMC’s MoU with city based NGO had expired in October last year. Impounding of stray cattle has virtually come to a halt.
The issue of encroachments in the municipal markets and on pavements remains unresolved. MMC yet to decide whether to auction seized goods or continue to return back the goods after charging a fine.
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The current term of the civic body will end in October,but it could not put in place a dedicated overhead water tank to fight fires in the new markets.
A decade and half after they were displaced by the civic body upon orders of the high court, gadda traders are still awaiting permanent rehabilitation.
