AAP questions govt’s failure to clean Mapusa River before Chaturthi

Team Herald 

PANJIM: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday slammed the government and Mapusa MLA Joshua D’Souza for failing to clean up the Mapusa River before Ganesh Chaturthi and the first day of Ganesh Visarjan. 

Despite multiple assurances and highly publicised meetings with the Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant, no serious action has been taken to clean up the river, said AAP in a press release. 

“The polluted state of the river has become a chronic problem but the hope was that the MLA and the government would get their act together before Ganesh Chaturthi,” the AAP stated. 

In March 2021 during an inspection, it was found that dead fish were floating at the immersion site. It was also learnt that the water had turned black as well as stinking. 

The local residents said that for the last several years they have been writing to the local authorities to clean the river. Despite multiple complaints and interventions the situation has not improved. 

In the last two days, the AAP highlighted how the BJP government has not done anything to improve roads before Ganesh Chaturthi. 

The AAP Goa has been highlighting the state of the river for close to a year now. AAP Goa Convenor Rahul Mhambre has consistently called out the government for tokenism of the Mapusa River. 

“The BJP had made the life of Mapusa residents miserable and it is time to bring a change in Mapusa,” he said.