MAPUSA
Power Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar was stumped by a senior citizen who disclosed that his mutation case has been pending with the department for the last 17 years and wanted to know how many more years will it take to resolve the issue.
“My father who was following the mutation case has passed away. Now, I have been following the case for the last several years but do not see any ray of hope. Looks like I may also pass away but the mutation case will never be resolved,” said a senior citizen who was attending the State government-sponsored “Prashasan Tumchya Dari” programme in Bardez.
Dhavalikar could not provide any solution but only requested the senior citizen to share the details of the case with him.
Another senior citizen from Tivim, Robert Colaco raised the issue of houses being constructed in open spaces shown in the 20-point housing programme. He also said law-abiding people were paying taxes for garbage collection but those involved in irregular activities failed to pay any tax. He further pointed out that the Tivim panchayat was not taking people into confidence while developing the football ground in the village.
The Power Minister was very patient as he listened and tackled various queries from the citizens at the held at the government complex in Mapusa, Bardez.
Deputy Speaker & Mapusa MLA Joshua D'Souza, Aldona MLA Carlos Ferreira, Saligao MLA Kedar Naik and former Aldona MLA Glenn Ticlo were also present for the function.
Officers from the power, renewable energy and housing departments also addressed the gathering listing various programme and schemes offered in their departments.
Deputy Collector-I Gurudas Desai, Deputy Collector-II Yashwini B (IAS), Mamlatdar Praveen Gawas and several other officials also attended the programme.
Mapusa councillor Sainath Raul informed that there were more internet cables strung on the electricity poles than the power lines and wondered whether the department had any plan to do away with this nuisance. He also raised the issue of non-functioning street lights.
According to the Power Minister, the problem of internet cables on electricity poles will automatically disappear when the power cables go underground. He also assured to start a workshop at Karrasvaddo, Tivim to repair fused street lights.
Former councillor Balu Phadke said that officers should be asked to go to people’s places just as people are invited to such programmes for better results.
He also said that the government should come out with a policy to make the implementation of solar energy compulsory in housing complexes to give the industry a fillip.
