The unsafe building in Margao.
MARGAO
The business activity in the “unsafe” building in the heart of the Commercial capital has come back to haunt the Margao Municipal Council.
For, the Council has informed complainant Savio Colin Coelho under Right to Information (RIT) Act that the license issued to the footwear business activity has been cancelled on July 24, 2024.
This has only thrown up a question or two for the MMC to answer – how come business still continues unabated in the unsafe building till date and why did the civic body not send its workers to shut down the business if the same is being carried out without the mandatory trade licence?
Outgoing Chief Officer Gaurish Sankhwalkar had passed an order on July 24, 2024 cancelling the trade licence issued to the business activity with immediate effect in view of the order issued by the South Goa district Collector and Chairman of the district Disaster Management Authority to raze down the unsafe building.
Incidentally, it’s now exactly a year since then district Collector Asvin Chandru, IAS had issued an order on November 13, 2023 issuing directions to the Margao Municipal Council to demolish the building on grounds that the building has already been declared unsafe.
It’s another matter then Chief Officer Sankhwalkar, though he had cancelled the trade license for the business activity in the unsafe building, had never shut the business premises shut down since it was operating sans trade licences.
Business activity continued unabated in the unsafe building during the tenure of Sankhwalkar’s successor Ajit Panchwadkar. Leave alone the demolition of the unsafe building, questions have been raised in the corridors of the Margao Municipal building and outside how come the civic body turned a blind eye to the continuing business activity in the unsafe building.
With the MMC presided over by incumbent Chief Officer Melvyn Vaz dishing out the RTI information last week, categorically stating that the civic body has cancelled the trade licence in July last, all eyes are now focussed on the Chief Officer whether the MMC will continue to turn a blind eye to the business activity in the unsafe building.
