PONDA: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, speaking at the inaugural function of the panchayat hall at Veling Mardol, announced a complete ban on plastic bags with less than 40-micron thickness from July. He also said fines to the tune of Rs 10,000 may be slapped on offenders.
He said wholesome efforts should be taken to make Goa garbage-free or else the muck strewn on roads may force foreign tourists to shift their tourist destination. He said the practice of carrying cloth/jute bags which were in vogue in the past, must be revived to lay the ground for a cleaner future.
The CM also said henceforth all panchayats must create a fund so as to undertake maintenance work. In the absence of such provision, many government buildings are seen in a crying need for maintenance but are “ignored” due to the lack of funds.
Citing how to create such funds, he said whenever a government building or a community hall is built, it becomes an asset and gives revenue to the panchayat in terms of fees earned through public programmes, functions etc. He asked the panchayats to deposit 20% amount of this revenue to create such funds and this accumulated fund would help in repair and maintenance work in future.
North Goa MP and Union AYUSH Minister Shripadh Naik, Art and Culture Minister Govind Gawde, Veling Priol Sarpanch Damodar Naik, ZP Shivdas Gawde, and panch members were present. He further said that government will undertake the Tourism Project at Mangeshim to facilitate increasing tourist and would also undertake a cold storage project at Mardol Bazaar in the interest of farmers to store their produce subject to condition that there should be provison to create a fund. He hailed Naik for properly utilising the MPLAD. He also said the government has sanctioned the construction of AYUSH Hospital.
