It rained foundation stones in Salcete
TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: In an apparent bid to beat the election code of conduct, the government went on a spree to lay foundation stones and break the sacred coconut in Salcete on Saturday, with Water Resources Minister Dayanand Mandrekar and Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado sharing the honours on day one.
And Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar along with PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar are scheduled to descend on Navelim on Sunday to lay the foundation stone for the multi-crore sewage pumping project as part of government’s plan to decontaminate river Sal and Salpem lake.
The Water Resources Minister hopped from one village to another in Nuvem constituency with local MLA Mickky Pacheco in tow to lay as many as five foundation stones for development and desilting of lakes and ponds in the village of Nuvem, Majorda and Betalbatim. All these developmental works initiated by the Nuvem MLA for the benefit the farming community are expected to cost the exchequer Rs 3.68 crore. Work on the de-silting projects are expected to commence soon. South Goa Zilla Chairperson Nelly Rodrigues, Nuvem ZP member Wilfred D’Sa and local sarpanchas were present for the function.
The Water Resources Minister later descended on Cuncolim where in the presence of local MLA Rajan Naik he laid the foundation stone for a bandhara at Nove Bandh at a cost of Rs 93 lakh. The election code of conduct will not come in the way of the work since the department has already issued the work order to the contractor. Rajan said major portion of the work on the project is expected to be complete by May.
At Margao, Fisheries Minister Avertano Furtado laid the foundation stone for the construction of the Rs 1.55 crore administrative building-cum-trainees’ hostel for Krishi Vigyan Kendra (South Goa).
Avertano broke the sacred coconut and unveiled the plaque to mark the commencement of the project, which is expected to be complete by May 2015. “The construction of the administrative building-cum-trainees’ hostel will give a boost to agricultural activities. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has accorded top most priority for promotion of agriculture in the state”, he added.
