Team Herald
VASCO: The Mormugao Municipal Council unanimously resolved to write to the Goa Rehabilitation Board (GRB), requesting the board to rehabilitate the Katem Baina residents whose houses are facing demolition by Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA).
The decision was taken at a special meeting on Tuesday, which was followed by an unprecedented level of heated arguments among the council members.
The special meeting was convened on the request of opposition Councillors led by Shradha Amonkar. She wrote to the municipality that a special meeting of the council be convened to discuss the plight of the 121 Katem Baina residents whose houses are facing demolition and the Western India Shipyard Workers (WISL) who have not been paid their salaries for eight months.
At the meeting, Amonkar stated that notwithstanding the fact that the demolition issue is a subject matter of petitions pending before various courts, including the High Court of Bombay at Goa and NGT, the Council has the powers to take a decision demanding rehabilitation of Baina residents by the government.
She said that in the past the government has rehabilitated the people affected by the four-lane project at Baina and the victims of Tariwado landslide.
Councillors Murari Bandekar, Saifullah Khan, Lavina D’Souza, Fredrick Henriques, Kristesh Gaonkar and Katem Baina ward Councillor Leo Rodriguese and many others supported the proposal.
They said that the government through its nodal agency GRB should rehabilitate the affected people from Katem Baina on humanitarian grounds. If possible, these occupants who are fishermen by profession should be rehabilitated in close vicinity of Katem Baina, they suggested.
And on the issue of WISL workers, the MMC chairperson refused to entertain any discussion stating that WISL is a private company, as such, the MMC has no powers to pass any resolution in favour of the affected workers.
Meanwhile, the council also unanimously resolved to approve the revised plan of Vaddem Lake, excluding the portion of land overlapping between two projects including Vaddem beach beautification plan as well as St Andrew’s College building project plan.
While the beautification project had mentioned the land in question as Entertainment cum parking zone, St Andrew’s plan had marked the land as parking area for the college building.
The council had a heated discussion on leasing out the old fish market premises to Gurudas Tirodkar. After lengthy debate, it was decided to go for auction instead of giving opportunity to only one applicant.
