MARGAO
Blame it on political interference or otherwise, the 24-hour deadline set by the Margao Municipal Council to the medical store/ pharmacy which was directed to pay a penalty amounting to Rs 50,000 for disposing of bio-medical waste at a dark spot has gone abegging.
Officials of the Margao Municipal Council informed that the pharmacist did not turn up at the Municipality on Thursday to pay the penalty as per the directions issued by Chief Officer Rohit Kadam. Sources, however, told The Goan that the phones of Municipal officials did not stop ringing since the time the civic body served the notice imposing the penalty.
If sources are to be believed, politicians sought to interfere with the Municipal action against the pharmacist, with calls being made to the officials to be lenient to the violator. One of the politicians is believed to have questioned the rationale behind the civic body’s action, demanding to know how come the Municipality has levied a fine of Rs 50,000 on the pharmacist. “How are we supposed to work in this environment when politicians sought to interfere in our work,” questioned an official.
The official pointed out that the MMC had investigated the disposal of the bio-medical waste at a dark spot near the Coca Cola depots at Comba after a complaint was lodged by the ward councillor Shagun Naik to the Chief Officer. “After our investigations zeroed in on the pharmacist and imposed the penalty of Rs 50,000, the violator has not turned up at the civic body to pay the fine,” another official said.
