Goa is just ten days away from hosting the 8th BRICS summit, which is scheduled to be held in Goa on October 15 and 16 with over 900 delegates coming from China, Brazil, South Africa and Russia. The summit is also expected to have Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Russian President Vladmir Putin.
With the summit to be hosted in South Goa and the delegates to be hosted in starred hotels around Salcete, the highway from the Dabolim Airport to all roads leading towards Cavelossim, Colva and Benaulim have got a huge facelift with road widening underway.
The government has faced flak for inconveniencing people and also for cutting large number of trees but all that apart, we concentrate on an important aspect on the role of the Margao Municipal Council and its complete bias towards its former councilor.
The road from the Margao-Colva Circle to the Colva police station falls under the jurisdiction of MMC, Seraulim Panchayat and Colva panchayat. The first stretch of the road from Colva Circle junction until the Mungul chapel is under the MMC.
Along the entire stretch, slums have been demolished, slum dwellers have been displaced, a building has been shaved off its front portion, many huge trees have been cut and religious structure has been relocated. All this is very rare in Goa during road widening with politicians have no political will to touch religious structures or disrupt slum dwellers since they’re vote banks.
While all these done on a war footing, surprisingly the former MMC chairperson Gonzaco Rebello, who is believed to have the blessings of the Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza, has an extension to his bar and restaurant, which has already been deemed controversial by the MMC but the 5-nation BRICS summit work seems too small for this former chairpersons to get his controversial bar evicted and demolished.
Recalling the incident on March 25, 2105, the then MMC chief officer Naveen S L had passed a demolition order under Section 174 of the Goa Municipalities Act, 1968 against the MMC chairperson’s structure that stands on municipal property at Mungul Grande, Margao and deemed it fit to issue a demolition order without notice that was to be executed on April 8.
But Gonzaco’s political godfather then was the two-time Margao municipal chairperson and influential Arthur D’Silva, who’s now a BJP member and slated to fight polls from Curtorim, then saved Gonzaco from the demolition. He was quick to move his matter to the Deputy Chief Minister Francis DSouza then and get a stay on the demolition.
On April 2, 2015 as an appellate authority, D’Souza had granted the stay in a revision petition filed by Rebello before him under Section 303 of the Goa Municipalities Act, 1968. On March 25, the MMC chief officer Naveen S L had passed a demolition order under Section 174 of the Goa Municipalities Act, 1968 against the MMC chairperson’s controversial structure that stands on municipal property at Mungul Grande, Margao and deemed it fit to issue a demolition order without notice that was to be executed on April 8.
This Jul-Rose Bar has had so much political clout that even the BRICS summit can’t get the Deputy Collector Ajit Panchwadkar overlooking the road widening nor the PWD Division 6 to demolish the said controversial bar.
“The matter is in three courts before the appellate body of the Deputy CM, the Collector’s court and the lower court and hence this is declared sub-judice and nobody is taking action,” stated former Margao Municipal Councillor Savio Coutinho.
Similarly, Savio Dias, the activist, who originally filed the complaint, stated that the Collector’s office has told they are too busy in other matters for the BRICS Summit and that breaking Gonzaco’s controversial bar is not priority and road widening will be done without razing the structure.
Similarly, Margao municipality Chief Officer Y B Tawde washed his hands clean and stated to us, “See we want to demolish his controversial bar and we’re going as per court procedure but now it can be demolished in the name of road widening but now the PWD is executing the work and they should demolish, and not us”.
Timothio Gonsalves, a resident in the vicinity explained to us if the PWD could be so hasty in taking down the slums and moving a religious structure though those matters are in court and sub-judice but it has been done then why they can’t demolish the controversial bar is very surprising.
Gonzaco himself boldly tells us that the matter is in court and nobody has the authority to demolish his structure and until court decides, nobody should be looking into this matter.
Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai, Margao’s activists, current chairperson Dr Babita Angle and many others had used the 2015 incident as an election plank to urge voters to wipe out the old council stating that they’re corrupt and this campaign was successful in defeating many of them but surprisingly the MLA and the chairperson are doing nothing to take cognizance of this controversial structure.
