Ward 21: Unemployment is major concern
Bindiya chari
If there is any ward which does not have any major problem in the CCP jurisdiction, then it has to be ward 21, which covers most of the Altinho road.
The ward mostly has voter population of police employees staying at Altinho Hill in Government Quarters.
This ward may not have any major problems except for nagging issue of non-availability of basic sanitary facilities to those residing in huts behind the police quarters, however, the youth in the area feel let down as nothing is being done to address unemployment issue.
“Outgoing corporator Shushila Gawas has not done anything — she did not even bother to help even one person from this ward to get a job,” tells one Altinho youth who thoroughly believes that providing jobs is also a responsibility of the corporator.
However, the youth don’t seem to be concerned much about the non availability of sanitary facilities to small houses which they claim are illegal.
For Gajanan Kale who is contesting from Babush’s panel feels unemployment in his ward is his major concern.
He also plans to have some development in his ward but at the moment he is more focused on his campaigning.
Whereas his rival Mahesh Chandekar who is supported by BJP says there is scope for development in the area.
He wants to have benches put up in the open spaces in front of their quarters.
He also wants to have garden for the ward. Some years ago, a garden was planned in the open space between two buildings however, even after eight years later garden remains incomplete.
“The area looks so messy and the residents want that mess to be removed if they don’t want to construct garden here,” pointed out an Altinho youth.
Parking mess main highlight of Ward 25
shweta kamat
If anybody wants to know how the Corporation of City of Panjim has failed to take up basic works in its jurisdiction during the last tenure just pip into Ward No 25, represented by a BJP backed corporator.
Parking mess, clogged drains and utter mess of the civic amenities highlights this ward represented by Sandeep Kundaikar.
The ward is tucked in the heart of the city across two major roads – Dr Atmaram Borkar Road and Dr Dada Vaidya Road.
“Despite being in the heart of the city, where most of the tourists prefer to move, the ward has been completely set aside by CCP. The ward is just full of issues,” Pai, a local shopkeeper says.
Kundaikar further adds, “CCP had no money to spend here. I kept on preparing proposals and submitting to the corporation, but they were not bothered.”
He said the ward received utter step motherly treatment from the ruling panel, which had blessings of Education Minister Babush Monserrate.
The ward has a total of 1238 voters and Kundaikar had won in 2006 election defeating Ajay Silimkhan.
For 2011 polls, the ward is reserved for women where BJP-backed panel’s Shubadha Dhond is pitted against Babush backed panel’s Namita Narvekar.
Kundaikar himself admits that the ward is in real bad shape.
“I did works worth Rs 7 lakh here but entire money came from different departments, CCP did not spend anything.” — Sandeep Kundaikar..
Drains are a major issue here. The locals say that during monsoons, the water logging in the drains inundates the area. Also, some solution is required for the parking problem here, which is irritating the locals.
With every passing year, the area is getting congested. If city fathers fail to fix the mess, than it will be a major problem, which will affect Panjim city in totality.
Namita Narvekar, contesting from Babush panel, said that street lights are also one problem that needs to be tackled on priority.
“If I get elected, installing streetlights would be the priority,” she said.
Narvekar says that drains and parking is a major problem for this ward. “All works here would be taken up on priority. I want to see this ward as cleanest and best part of the city,” she said.
