MAPUSA
The Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) is back in the news, but this time for all the wrong reasons.
The Mapusa market Sopo contractor Damodar Shirodkar has alleged that three councillors and a parent of one of them has been harassing him and demanding “hafta” to run his legal Sopo collection business in the Mapusa municipal market.
Shirodkar claimed that the councillors were making “baseless” and “false” allegations against him in an attempt to get rid of him from the Sopo collection business and bring a favourable person in his place.
“These three councillors are demanding an amount of Rs 2 lakh to be paid to them as monthly halfta and failing to do so, they would ensure that my Sopo collection contract would be terminated,” Shirodkar alleged, in a letter to the chief officer while responding to a show-cause notice issued to him some days ago.
He also alleged that these councillors have set up several bhel puri/omlet gadas and other illegal street vendor stalls all over Mapusa and were allegedly collecting haftas on monthly basis from these illegal vendors.
“These councillors have also been collecting illegal haftas from the vendors in Mapusa market through one of the municipal council supervisors, which is against the Sopo collection contract agreement with me. These councillors have been working to cause losses to the revenue of the public exchequer of the Mapusa Municipal Council,” he alleged.
He also alleged in his letter that a parent of one of the councillors was issuing threats to him over the phone demanding to do “setting” with his councillor son.
The Sopo contractor demanded a high-level inquiry in the matter through the office of anti-corruption bureau (ACB).
According to Shirodkar, the councillors had earlier conspired to pass illegal resolutions in the Mapusa Municipal Council meetings against him but since the former chief officer disagreed to execute the resolutions, they tried to frame him by making some favourable vendors speak against him and making some doctored videos viral.
“They have been harassing me from day one. I can’t take this anymore. I have evidence to prove my claims and will take up the matter with the highest authority in the government,” Shirodkar told The Goan.
MMC Chief Officer Amitesh Shirvoikar said he was not aware of any such letter made to him by the Sopo contractor.
“It may have been inwarded, but I have not seen any such letter,” Shirvoikar said.
However, sources in the municipality informed that the Chief Officer has called the Sopo contractor for a hearing over the show-cause notice on October 26, where the issue on the contractor’s allegations against the councillors will also come up.
