Kamat’s mission: 'Justice' for Madgavkars, but city's lingering challenges loom large

The Margao Municipal Council is struggling to tackle its waste management woes and encroachments.

Photo Credits: The Goan/File photo

MARGAO
Come April 1, Margao MLA Digambar Kamat will launch “Mission Margao Municipality” to address burning issues plaguing the commercial capital and mete out "justice" to Madgavkars.

The seven-time Margao MLA, however, has his task cut out as he braces himself to pay full-fledged attention to civic issues, including those falling within the domain of the local civic body. He will need the government's support and assistance for their redressal.

With the BJP ruling the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) for almost the last two and a half years since he quit the Congress to embrace the ruling party, the former chief minister may have drawn up a plan of action to identify and resolve the issues affecting citizens and create a feel-good factor in the run-up to the civic polls due exactly a year from now.

While minor improvements, such as repainting the municipal building, have been made, several long-standing concerns remain unaddressed. 'The Goan' takes a close look at some of the issues that may merit attention.

LDC recruitment process stalled

It will be four months on Tuesday since the Margao Municipal Council received 1,500-odd applications for the 13 posts of LDCs (11), besides a mason and a senior supervisor. Mystery, however, shrouds the recruitment exercise as the applications continue to remain under lock and key inside the chamber of the Margao civic chief.

Even as hundreds of job aspirants from Margao and beyond anxiously wait for a call for a computer-based test from the civic body, Margao’s municipal administrative head, Chief Officer Melvyn Vaz, is yet to complete the exercise of initialling the application forms to date.

Young job seekers from Margao and outside have been making frantic inquiries with the civic body over the last four months, seeking to know how the MMC will go about the recruitment process, who will conduct the computer-based test, and whether the civic body will follow the Staff Selection Commission’s norms while conducting the recruitment.

Unclear waste management strategy

The Margao council must have already spent over one crore rupees on the transportation of waste generated in the commercial capital for treatment at the Cacora waste treatment plant. The reason: the MMC has still not taken a call on how to go about setting up its own waste treatment plant in the city.

In this respect, the Margao MLA will have to play his due role in getting the BJP-led government to address the issue of establishing a waste treatment plant in the city. The MMC has already written to the Chief Minister-led High Powered Coordination Committee regarding the setting up of a 15 TPD waste management plant in the city, but the HPCC is yet to meet so far.

Parking project faces delays

Despite a host of resolutions adopted by the Margao municipality, the ambitious multi-level parking project is yet to see the light of day. It will soon be a decade since the foundation stone for the parking project was laid way back in 2015.

Take note, the incumbent council had resolved to rope in the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) to take up the parking project on its behalf by transferring the funds to the agency. The project, however, has failed to take off to date. Indeed, parking is a burning issue plaguing the commercial capital. This is one issue that has found mention in the manifestos of election panels contesting the civic polls, but in vain.

Stray dog control programme lags

The Margao MLA has a clear task of getting the Margao Municipal Council’s Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme back on track. The ABC programme has been derailed in the city for the last three years, with the municipality dilly-dallying on the question of renewing the Memorandum of Understanding with animal lovers.

And when the MMC finally inked the MoU with an NGO last year, the civic body has been dragging its feet over the last couple of months in providing the logistical support needed to bring the ABC programme to resume operations.

Encroachments persist in public areas

Encroachments in public places are literally the order of the day in the commercial capital. The Chor Bazaar has made a comeback along Station Road, with vendors openly displaying their goods right along the roadside. The Margao municipality has also failed to crack down on gaddas operating in congested areas and on encroachments at the Comunidade square, right next to the municipal building.