Two of these community centres were built at Mangoor considering the fact that Mangoor has a slum which is thickly populated and people living here would have maximum use of these community centres. Similarly, the other two centres were built at two different locations in the Mormugao Municipal Council.
The aim was to provide facilities to the poor families who can either use the centre for conducting various skill related activities or for social and private functions and that too free of cost. It was a boon for the locals at the time but today, these centres are just a structure, all thanks to MMC officials who neglected them for the last 17 years. “Officially the local administration has provided us a place where people from a particular neighbourhood have common facilities to meet for social events, to organise educational activities besides recreational ones as our homes are small and cannot accommodate huge
gatherings. However, in reality, this centre is nothing but a waste having no facilities whatsoever,” said Siddaiya Harimat, an RTI activist from Vasco.
A visit to all these four community centres reveal that the centre that was built in ward number 15 was in high demand as a large number of people from the neighbourhood were using this hall for social and educational purposes. A few coaching classes were taking place some years ago and that was helping students living in the neighbourhood immensely. However today, this centre is rarely used as there is no facility at all.
“The painting of this structure was done 14 years back, the electricity department disconnected the connection after the MMC failed to pay the bills a few years back. Broken windows, corroded grills, two fans but no electricity connection apart from two chairs is what is left as part of the amenities provided by the MMC,” said Balkrishna Salgaonkar, a local resident who contested the last MP elections.
Ironically, on paper, this community centre at upper Mangoor opposite the sports club is supposed to cater to the people from ward number 9, 14, 15 and 16 of MMC which means over 2000 families have facilities provided by MMC and that too in close proximity to their homes. But in reality, not even five percent of the people are using this facility which proves that the purpose of providing facilities to the society by municipal bodies remained futile. All this because the MMC forgot their responsibility and neglected this centre which today remains closed most of the time.
Similarly, the second such community centre was constructed near Navelkar Mangoor, also known as lower Mangoor. The condition here is the same as the other centre. The only difference is that this one has stopped catering to the needs of the people since the time the MMC gave permissions to run Anganwadi. However, in terms of maintenance, the condition is worse. “We have managed to put electricity wires and are paying bills on time due to which the connection exists. Otherwise the structure in possession was never maintained by the owners (MMC),” said Shweta Bhosle, a teacher at Anganwadi.
The fate of the other two community centres in Mormugao Constituency is also the same. “MMC completed its formality by providing the community centres some 17 years back, but they failed to ensure the maintenance required, at least once every five years. I will surely take this issue up in the next meeting as we should understand the fact that these centres have the utmost importance for poor people who live in small rooms and have no place to organise family functions,” said Neny D’souza, a leader of opposition in MMC.
When contacted, MMC chairperson Lavina D’Souza, acknowledged the fact that these centres were left neglected for some reason for which she will ask for a report from the municipal engineers. “This issue appears to be serious but was alien until it was brought to my notice. I will surely ask my engineers to ensure that they inspect these centres and then submit a report with their suggestions so that I can put the proposal before the council in the next meeting and repairwork can be initiated soon,” she said.
Whether the assurance given by her will be fulfilled or not, only time will tell. But the purpose for which the community centres were opened did not materialise only because the language of maintenance is alien to the MMC. As a result, it’s not just these four structures, but other properties as well that are facing neglect.
