CURCHOREM: Morailem ward no.3 and ward no.14 Bepquegal of Curchorem-Cacora Municipal Council (CCMC) are sharing the main market of Curchorem.
The Morailem ward was reserved for OBC women candidates during the last municipal elections and Piedade Diniz won with 530 votes over Hilda Mascarenhas e Coutinho and this time this ward is reserved again for OBC candidates but kept open. From Bebquegal ward Balkrishna (Pinty) Hodarkar won the seat by around 325.
Morailem Ward 3
This time the former councillor from this ward Piedade Diniz is not in poll fray and completely new faces are contesting.
Bebquegal Ward 14
Chairperson of last outgoing council Balkrishna (Pinty) Hodarkar he is contesting again from this ward but only against two other candidates
As the main market of Curchorem is shared by these two wards, most of the residents have common issues and most of them are complaining about the parking spaces for the vehicles and moving of stray cattle and dogs on public roads and streets in the market.
Parking Issue
For the last five years no much development has taken place in the Bebquegal ward area which occupies the main and maximum part of the market of Curchorem. “Inspite of several demands not only from residents but also from the general public, the council miserably failed to solve the parking issue. Recently the fish market, which was constructed during Portuguese era, has been renovated but parking provision has not been made. New commercial buildings are sprouting but not one is having a proper parking area. Three years has passed, old municipal market building was supposed to be demolished to construct new structure but till today nothing has been done.” said local resident William Fernandes
Many locals from Bebquegal ward are complaining that the narrow road near Guardian Angel school kept open for both side traffic and since many vehicles are parked on one side of this road including in front of some residential houses due to lack of parking space in the market, it becomes very difficult to move two vehicles in opposite direction on this road.
“The main road from Ambedkar Circle to Oddar Bridge has been made four lane road and one way and beautified the circle and spacious footpath on both sides of road has been constructed which is used by people mostly including senior citizens and women for morning/evening walks but this area too seen haphazard parking by two/four wheeler and many times late night drinking parties are being organised with loud music.” said Mathew D’Costa from Morailem ward.
Stray Cattle and Dog menace
“You can see cattle and dogs everywhere everyday which adds up to the mess in the market. Even though the garbage collection is done regularly still the market is filled with filth and dirt.
Fish Market in Bebquegal ward
“After our long request a fish market has been renovated but no proper slope was constructed to drain the water and as a result the water comes near our legs and get stagnant. Secondly no wash room/toilet facilities are provided in spite of our repeated request as it causes lot of inconvenience to fish mongers particularly for women,” said a resident from the municipal area.
Their demands
The new council should see that proper and sufficient parking spaces should be created by keeping in mind the requirement of at least next 25 years. It should conduct regular inspections of residential buildings to see whether they maintain parking spaces as per plan or converted them for some other purposes. Other demand is that council should see that the fish market is shifted immediately to a new place with ultra modern facilities with enough parking spaces and seriously tackled the stray cattle and dog menace.
