3 Margao civic engineers under scanner for graft
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, AUG 29
As many as three Margao Municipal engineers have come under the scanner of the government following complaints of corruption from citizens.
Apart from the citizens, even Chief Minister Digambar Kamat is believed to have brought to the notice of Urban Development Minister Joaquim Alemao vis-a-vis corrupt activities of the engineers.
A n agitated Alemao has agreed to shunt out the engineers in questions out of Margao, but after a meeting with the Chief Minister. “I have received many complaints atleast 2-3 engineers demanding bribes from the citizens to get works approved. Even the Chief Minister has told me to look into the matter”, he said.
While declining to further go into the issue, Alemao said action, if any, would be initiated after a meeting with the Chief Minister.
Sources in the know said that the Margao Municipal council has been watching the situation as a mere spectator given that the engineers come under a common cadre under the Director of Municipal Administrator.
In fact, there were loud cries in the civic body during the first half of the current term of the Civic body for the transfer of an engineer, but the same fell on deaf ears of the powers that be.
It not out of place to mention here that there were complaints galore against the MMC’s technical section about the harassment meted out to citizens over the issue of issuance of construction licenses.
In fact, even the elected representatives led by Chairperson Savio Coutinho had called for a list of construction licenses issued by the Municipal technical section following complaints that conditions relating to garbage disposal and parking space are being dispensed with by the builders in collusion with the technical section.
However, though Coutinho and the ruling MMC group initially made it a matter of prestige on the issue, even threatening to get the information under the Right to Information Act, the technical section is yet to give the details to the MMC Chairperson till date.
