Mapuça going, going ….
Mapuça is in a sorry state of disrepair and a shadow of its former circumspect self laments ERVELL E. MENEZES
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The city of Mapuça has always been dear to my heart. If not for any other reason than it is closest to my village of Bastora. As little boys in the early 1950s we cycled to and fro ad infinitum. Early morning to buy the newspapers for the cricket scores, later on some errand or the other and still later, not so sure why. Oh yes, something to look forward to, was the treat by my grand-uncle who was then working as administrator with the then famous C. D’Souza Restaurant. We would hang around the place till spotted, called in and given a right royale treat.
It was the old market near the Alankar cinema today, before it moved in 1960 to the present structure inaugurated by the then Portuguese Governor Vassalo da Silva (who thankfully refused to blast the bridges before the Liberation) and was the brainchild of the well-known architect Pinto do Rosario. It still stands strong today while latter structures like the fish market (built in 1991) have come crumbling down. In the United Kingdom, we have songs of “London bridge is falling down.” but it is only in Goa that you have the real thing.
But as the capital of Bardez, Mapuça, is in a sorry state of disrepair and a shadow of its former circumspect self. Take the Asilo Hospital where the aam admi (Chief Minister Digambar Kamat’s favourite in rhetoric, not in deed) has to fight tooth and nail to get his due. As one doctor described it, “doctors of the Asilo are known to shunt patients to the Goa Medical College Hospital in Bambolim, because the best care is available there. It is like a post-office. Not only that but also because most of the Asilo doctors are believed to be doing their own practice in private clinics nearby, like Mapuça Clinic and Sankalp.”
Then there is the case of Dr. Malika, who was responsible for a few pregnancy deaths and a big hue and cry was raised by the press and the patients, but to no avail. There is a certain immunity to being suspended or sacked from the Asilo. It seems to be a law unto itself. Call it the survival of the weakest.
But whatever has happened to the new Asilo Hospital whose foundation stone was laid by the then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar in 2004? It is still to be functional. Why? Is it being seen as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) project? The new hospital has been ready since 2009, but only in name. Why the delay? Everyone is pointing fingers elsewhere and hence truth is the casualty.
“We are partly outsourcing it to private parties,” says Dr Rajnanda Desai who is the Director of Health Services, and weighs her words as though rationed. Reminds one, of our cricket captain Vijay Hazare who on the 1947 tour of Australia spoke so little that it was said “runs flowed more easily from his bat than words from his mouth.” But that was because of his problem with language. Not Dr Desai. For her it is being non-committal. In two telephonic conversations she spoke not more than two lines. Being favoured over Dr Sanjiv Dalvi for the post, she doesn’t seem to mind the designation but appears reluctant to be in the firing line. It’s like eating your cake and having it too. Dr Dalvi too was not available for comment. Mapuça BJP MLA Francis “Babush” D’Souza was out of station. The trouble with doing a story in Goa is that the key persons are usually absent and those present are not willing to be quoted.
Another disaster is the Mapuça fish market. Since August 2009 it is out in the open because the market built in 1991 had developed cracks in 2006 and had to be vacated in 2009 with slabs of plaster falling. Now it is virtually like buying fish in a gutter. Folks have fallen on their backs and soiled their clothes and the fisherfolk are as rude as ever if you get too close (in the given space) to their ware. MLA Francis “Babush” D’Souza’s sister Mrs Alima Monteiro goes to Panjim market to buy fish. “I just can’t bear to go there,” this former Bastora panch member declares outspokenly. Mrs Monteiro also mentions the Datta Prasad farmhouse which now works as a commercial establishment thanks to the gratis of the Bastora Panchayat members who are said to be taken care of in cash or kind like free cement bags. As for the “ gutter fish market” it is situated just a stone’s throw from the Town & Country Planning Office and the PWD Office of Bardez district. What a crying shame!
Another major nuisance is the presence of two-wheelers in the heart of the market which pose a physical threat to the pedestrians who have limited space for themselves. These include heavy Bullet motorbikes. There are six gates which at one time were locked to prevent this. But the reasons given for not doing so, is that the shopkeepers want them open they bring in their goods. The second reason is security and a case of fire as only one person has the key. Both reasons can be nullified because the goods can be brought in early morning or late evening and the second one is that the key can be made available with another market official in case of a fire.
The Kadamba Bus stand is another sore point. There is a distinct stink of urine at the ticket counter and the ones selling tickets are worst affected. When the sun comes up the stench is reduced a bit, but in the mornings and evenings it is unbearable. The Sulabh toilet on the periphery claim that they administer enough of disinfectants, but it is the scores of pedestrians urinating against the wall that is responsible for this. Surely something can be done to curb this.
Garbage, the eternal Goa problem, afflicts Mapuca too. Now it is being dumped in the Altinho. But because of objections raised by the neighbouring Assagao village, a gate has been erected and only Mapuça Municipal vans are allowed to dump their garbage. This has led to non-Mapsekars throwing their garbage wantonly on the pristine hillside. Posing as restaurateurs from nearby villages wanting to deposit garbage there, we spoke to the watchman and he agreed to allow us with a “give me what you want” clause.
All this makes it clearly evident that Mapuça is a neglected city. Whatever happened to that sewerage proposal with a Japanese company? And the acquitting of land near the KTC bus stop? These continue to remain major question marks as the once proud city sinks deeper into the morass of neglect and decay.
Meanwhile our wordatarian Chief Minister Digambar Kamat continues to wax eloquent on how statehood “has given us the power to legislate.” But who is using that power, Mr Kamat? If you did, the Sanathan Saunstha would have been banned by now. There is enough evidence. You could have instituted a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the drug mafia. Swedish model Lucky Amori Farmhouse was willing to give evidence to the Goa Police but was never called. Why? Because there are too many Holy Cows around and you know who they are, Mr Kamat.
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Poor me! Poor you! Poor excuse!
By Marc de Souza
Are you a victim? Do you have some deep, dark family secret you would like to share with the whole wide world. No? Too bad. You will never get your five minutes in the spotlight.
Recently, I heard an author speaking about his new book and how his publisher wanted to send him on a book tour, but the publicity person said, “It is too bad you are not a victim. We could book you on a lot more talk shows”.
Of course we all know there are plenty of real victims. But some real victims are getting lost in the shuffle of trash since finger-pointing became the national pastime. A Reader’s Digest told a teacher, who sued in court, because she had repeatedly failed to make the minimal acceptable score on a standardized national test. She felt victimized because the test did not accommodate her slowness in understanding written and spoken information. This is just one of the many examples of whining going on.
Children blame parents, parents blame schools, political parties blame each other, and, when there is nobody to palm the blame on to, even God is blamed. This constant blaming and self-excusing has turned us into a totally irresponsible society. And, unfortunately, the finger-pointing has become very rampant,
Take the case of Miramar – the authorities were blamed for lack of water supply, which was the case; but now it comes gushing and in many instances the supply pipes burst and the water storage tanks overflow.
Now the blame is placed on the government for this situation, and, at this rate, they wonder what will be the fate come month of May. Garbage is cleared regularly during the day and the place now is minus the foul odour and street dogs have lessened, still complaints are sharp that the garbage
collectors come at odd hours for collection. The blame bounces back and forth.
The inside Miramar roads are asphalted – look good – not, great – become broad and smooth. Now some folks blame that because of no potholes, motorbikes keep zooming about, especially the young drivers, devoid of road and civic sense, who are untameable. The once quiet, peaceful place has become accident-prone.
The street lights surely dispel darkness and brightens up the place, and night prowlers and thefts are on the decline. But again the cry is that lights to be switched on at dusk and switched off at dawn, go on merrily past the stitch-off time. What a waste.
It appears the state of affairs has reached such a proportion that one does not know what is right and what is wrong! Uncertainty is the only certain thing!
I see that Bing Crosby’s words of wisdom, which came tumbling out of his mouth have found their way back once again into current consciousness, as they do from time to time:
“Accentuate the positive. Eliminate the negative. Don’t mess with Mr. In-between”.
When I heard these words of the immortal American singer some 50 years ago, they stuck me as a great programme for living. The half-century since, has not convinced me otherwise.
Nevertheless, I’ve never heard so much assorted yowling, complaining, criticising, lying and misinformation in all my born days as I’m hearing now. Far from eliminating the negative, people seem to be manufacturing the negative in great dray loads. And it’s mighty stinking stuff.
Well, isn’t it about time we all grew up and resurrected responsibility? If you are living a sinful life, you are responsible. The fact that everybody else is doing it, does not make it right or excuse you. If you are mad at the sullen attitude of the people, running a co-operative society, to a large extent, you are responsible. There are lots of problems in the world. If you are brave and true and responsible, it will not make them all go away overnight. But it is a start. So let’s pack up our victim suits in an old valise, and venture forth with valour, value, vigour and virtuous velocity.
