PANJIM: Panjim Mayor Vithal Chopdekar and the ruling councilors have threatened to go on a hunger strike if all the potholes in the capital city are not filled or cleared within 48 hours.
The ruling panel has also urged the State government to remove the Commissioner of the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) Ajit Roy, accusing him of bypassing the Mayor and council while taking administrative decisions.
Addressing media persons, Chopdekar accused the Commissioner of working against the interest of the city residents. “In May, I had requested the Commissioner to issue a tender for filling up of the potholes as the monsoon was set to approach and people would face major hardship. However, despite that till yesterday, he had not floated the tender,” he said and added, “As such, I and my ruling corporators are giving a deadline of 48 hours to the Commissioner to undertake repairs of the roads or else we will be forced to resort to hunger strike.”
The Mayor said they will take decide later on the period of the hunger strike. “We expect him to act within 48 hours. If he fails then only we will decide whether the hunger strike is indefinite or token,” he said. The Corporators have decided to hold their strike at the entrance of the CCP building.
Chopdekar accused the Commissioner of delaying several files pertaining to civic issues which has resulted in the chaotic situation in the city. “We want him to clear the files immediately so that the work on those problems can start. People are facing problem due to the behaviour of the Commissioner,” he added.
“If Commissioner can’t act, then we demand that the government immediately replace him with a local officer, who is well versed with the city problems. Roy is an IAS officer and non-Goan having no knowledge about the problems faced by the people here,” he said.
The council has already raised their grievances with former Panjim MLA Siddharat Kuncolienkar, who is currently looking after Panjim constituency, in the absence of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
The councilors reiterated how the Commissioner is bypassing the Mayor and the council while taking administrative decisions. “We had raised the issue during the recent ordinary meeting of the council. We have asked for more powers to Mayor,” councilor Uday Madkaikar said adding, “Commissioner says that his actions are as per the Act.”
