VIBHA VERMA
A look at the venue that witnessed several agitations and movements portrays a pitiable state with heaps of mud covering the green patches, broken tiles and the dug ground. The iconic Azad Maidan now sees JCB and vehicles of the contractors/supervisors parked there.
Nearly five months after taking up the beautification work at the historical and one of the most famed landmarks – Azad Maidan –, the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) has upset the City Corporation of Panaji (CCP) for failing to complete the project. Mayor Surendra Furtado has blamed his predecessor for handing over the task to the GSIDC
The CCP had earlier resolved to crackdown on the ‘illegal digging’ at Azad Maidan but it is helpless to take legal action as the work was already tendered during the tenure of the then Mayor Shubham Chodankar.
“We can’t do anything though CCP earlier decided to challenge the matter in the court. The work was given to GSIDC by former Mayor (Chodankar) and the court might not accept our plea,” he said.
As such, Furtado has now decided to wait till the two crucial developments scheduled next month – formation of a new government and election of the city Mayor. “We will decide the fate of the work at Azad Maidan once the government is formed post-counting on March 11, and Mayor’s election on March 20,” he added.
Lamenting the delay in completing the project, Furtado alleged it is a deliberate attempt to stall political meetings and other activities at the venue. “The GSIDC is deliberately slow on the job so that there are no activities or political meetings,” he alleged.
Meanwhile the heritage activists have welcomed the beautification with a rider not to harm the sanctity of the historical monument. “Azad Maidan’s historical and heritage significance has to be properly highlighted and taken care of while carrying out the beautification work,” said the President of Goa Heritage Action Group (GHAG) Prajal Sakhardande.
The historian, along with his colleague Zico Rodrigues, inspected the work and found the original granite tiles had developed cracks. Sakhardande said the NGO raised the matter with Panjim MLA Siddharth Kunkolienkar, who is also a former Vice Chairman of GSIDC. Kunkolienkar and Corporation MD Sanjith Rodrigues refused to comment on the subject.
