VASCO: With barely two days remaining to file nominations for the panchayat polls, an unprecedented rush was witnessed at the office of Mormugao Mamlatdar which is already congested during normal days. This led to a chaotic situation on Tuesday with a majority of the candidates who had come to file their nominations complaining of severe hardships due to massive congestion at the Mamlatdar office. It is the lone venue for filing of nomination papers for 60 odd Panchayat wards in all seven Panchayat’s under Mormugao Taluka.
“Though we had come down to file the nominations papers, we did not have a clue that we would have to face such hardships. Literally there was no space left even to stand or move inside the office of Mormugao Mamlatdar which is the venue for filing nominations papers. Though candidates are so many, but they had placed only one table for issuing receipts. Also the receipt counter has been located in a corner which creates more confusion” said Raymond Desa, an aspiring candidate from Cortalim Panchayat.
Another aspirant for Panchayat poll from Sancoale village said “As per the schedule, the returning officer accepts nomination papers from 10 am to 1 pm but it takes more than 3 hours to complete formalities due to the mad rush and the limited facilitation counters in the office which is already congested even during other normal working days. Due to such unprecedented congestion on Tuesday there is no doubt that even the daily routine works at this office would have been severely affected.”
Similar complaints were made by several other aspirants as well as their supporters who had come down to the mamlatdar office on Tuesday. They therefore also demanded that the state administration should shift the venue for filing nominations to some convenient locations out of city area.
“Finding a place for car parking in Vasco city is a nightmare and now even filing nominations on Tuesday was a nightmare because when we entered the Mamlatdar office to file nominations with our supporters, we were surprised to see a long queue, inside and outside the office and the situation was completely chaotic” said Laxman Kavlekar, a Panchayat leader from Chicolna Bogmalo. He said ” It would have been better if the election commission takes cognizance of the issue and instructs the officials concerned to shift venue for filing nominations papers to some other place and preferably out of Vasco city area where parking problems and congestion issue would not be faced by the people”.
