Except for political stability Mormugao Municipal Councilhas had nothing much to boast of in the last two years.
That itself is a huge achievement to the municipality thathas seen chairpersons change almost every year in its previous term.
But despite stability, MMC failed miserably on thedevelopment front.
Ruling councillors blamed former Revenue Minister, Jose PhilipD’ Souza, accusing him of blocking funds in the last one and half year when theCongress-led government was in power.
Councillor and brother of former revenue minister, PascoalD’ Souza from the opposition group hit back and said blaming his brother forthe inefficiency of the council will not help.
“Why is development not happening now? My brother is no morea minister,” Pascoal retaliated.
The council is only obsessed with gutters and patronizesillegal constructions in the municipal area. The municipality is leastconcerned about huge arrears in rent, non-renewal of leases, house taxre-assessment that would make the civic body self-reliant, say observers.
Surprisingly, most of the newly elected councilors includingChairperson Sarika Palkar are often busy in helping citizens obtain rationcards, DSS scheme, Income Certificate, Birth Certificate etc.
The new MLA’s have made the customary noises and some hintsof development have been noticed such the appointment of a consultant toupgrade the garbage treatment plant, so that it could accommodate 25 tons ofgarbage generated by almost 19,045 households on a daily basis.
But the MMC report card has far more reds than greens, acolour that may not see a change soon.
