TEAM HERALD
CURCHOREM: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Saturday promised a slew of projects for Curchorem, which include a new government hospital, a new Kadamba bus stand, a cultural library and a swimming pool with a joggers’ track.
He was addressing a gathering after inaugurating the new building of the Curchorem Fire and Emergency Services (CFES).
Taking a dig at the Congress, Parrikar said the previous government had spent around Rs 907 crore on new projects during its tenure without proper planning.
“One of them is the new district hospital at Margao. First, they planned the hospital for 350 beds, which then went up to 400, then 500 and 650 and finally, an 803-bedded hospital was approved.”
“The District Hospital required a maximum occupancy of 260 to 265 and Congress government unnecessarily built an 803-bedded hospital, more than what was required. In Valpoi, there are 10 patients in the government hospital and the Congress government started construction for a 70-bedded hospital,” Parrikar said.
Promising to develop Curchorem, Parrikar said tenders were already out to construct a new government hospital and a new Kadamba bus stand, besides a library and swimming pool with a joggers’ track.
Commenting on the new fire station building, Parrikar said: “The previous government has spent only Rs 6 lakh on this project and the remaining total work has been completed during our tenure.”
He further stated when then Canacona building had collapsed in January, he came to know that authorities were ill-equipped to handle emergency cases.
“We do not have required equipment and since this is a mining belt, where any casualty can take place any time, I have given the one vehicle with all the modern required accessories, which are mostly imported,” Parrikar said.
Speaking on the occasion, Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral thanked the chief minister for sanctioning specialized machinery at the Curchorem fire station.
These include two fire tenders, one with a 12,000 litre water capacity and another with a 4,500 litre capacity, an ambulance with basic life support, a Light Emergency Rescue (LER) vehicle equipped with chemical protective suit, a RCC Hydraulic cutting machine, a rescue and fall arrest harness, pneumatic lifting airbags set, underwater victim location camera, multi-gas detector, breathing apparatus set and one aerial ladder platform (ALP) vehicle which carries a ladder to a height of 32 meters for rescue and fire fighting operations.
Others present at the function included South Goa MP Narendra Sawaikar, GIDC Vice-Chairman and Sankhli MLA Dr Pramod Sawant, Sanguem MLA Subhash Phal Dessai, Sanvordem MLA Ganesh Gaonkar, Curchorem-Cacora Municipal Council Chairperson Carmelina Fernandes, GIDC Managing Director Sanjit Rodrigues, South Goa Collector Venancio Furtado and Fire Services Director Ashok Menon.
