TEAM HERALD
PORVORIM: Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) is unable to attain ‘class A’ status as is lacks conclusive evidence or official figures to indicate that Mapusa’s population has crossed 50,000.
MMC Chairperson Roopa Bhatka stated that Mapusa had all the credentials for ‘class A’ status. She said, “There has been all-round development of Mapusa in last 30 years. In the municipal meeting on June 30, 2014, a resolution demanding ‘A’ status was adopted and sent to the Directorate of Municipal Administration. It is high time that class ‘A’ status is awarded to Mapusa by the state government.”
When the MMC came into existence in 1970, it was granted ‘C’ status. In June 1985, it was upgraded to ‘B’. Mapusa has undergone a sea of change in the last 30 years. At present, it houses around 900 shops, 8,000 business establishments, 57 banks, 11 primary schools, 10 secondary schools, two higher secondary schools, two colleges, and two industrial estates.
There are around 19,000 legal and several illegal houses. The financial position of the Mapusa Municipal Council is much sounder than that of the Panjim and Margao municipalities.
As per Section 4 of Municipal Act, the population of the town needs to be 50,000 and must have 15 councilors to get class ‘A’ status. The population of Mapusa was around 40,000 as per the 2001 census. The population has shot up in the last 14 years – possibly crossing the 50,000 mark – but the government has still not made public the details of the 2011 census. MMC will remain deprived of ‘Class A’ status until then. Elections to the municipality are due in November this year.
