JULIO D’SILVA
julio@herald-goa.com
Besides losing the Class A status amongst municipal councils, Margao also runs the risk of losing the title of being the South Goa District capital if the proposed bifurcation of the council into Fatorda and Margao Municipal Councils fructifies.
Going by the present demarcation of Margao and Fatorda constituencies, all the government offices lie in Fatorda with a few exceptions. The Matanhy Saldanha Administrative Complex that houses most of the government offices of the South District is in Fatorda and so is the Osia Commercial Arcade where many government departments are housed including the South Goa Planning and Development Authority. Fatorda practically has all the major landmarks of South Goa which the Margao town has related to all these years.
The Ravindra Bhavan, the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the Swimming Pool, Indoor sports Complex, SGPDA Ground, KTC Bus Stand, Wholesale Fish Market and several others. The new District Hospital of South Goa is also coming up at the Fatorda Constituency.
In addition to this, the Fatorda Constituency is set to get a big boost after the Camara De Municipal is restored and made into a tourism spot. The South Goa Police headquarters and the Agriculture Department, lie in Margao. Even the court buildings trial court or the District and Sessions court both lie in Fatorda and if a council is formed they will be known as being in Fatorda and not Margao.
But worse is the fact that the Margao Municipal Council will be totally starved for funds as Margao is saturated and there is hardly any scope for new buildings or houses to be constructed there and new buildings and constructions are all coming in Fatorda area and hence that council will get the revenue accruing from House Tax or Sanitation fees.
Margao will only be left with the commercial activities that go on in the New Market and the Gandhi market as even the Osia Commercial Arcade and SGPDA market fall in Fatorda, say sources.
Given the fact that MMC has till date no fool proof record of the number of shops existing in New Market and Gandhi market and how much area each shop occupies, tax collection from these establishments is highly erratic. In fact if Fatorda Municipal Council is carved out, it may well become the taluka and district capital dislodging Margao from this position.
MMC ex-chairperson Savio Coutinho in fact expressed surprise that Vijai could come up with such a retrograde idea. “This is an unhealthy move and may well lead to other MLAs representing urban areas making similar demands,” he said.
He opined that making Margao a corporation by adding some of the rural suburban areas to its jurisdiction would have been a better idea.
The Fatorda municipal council, if formed, will have the advantages of large amounts of lands to develop big infrastructure. The Fatorda Constituency also has a distinct advantage of being attached to large lands of agriculture which are suppliers of horticulture vegetables and others to the entire surroundings.
