MMC orders Colmorod migrants to dismantle huts or face wrath

MMC orders Colmorod migrants to dismantle huts or face wrath
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, MAY 8
The Margao Municipal Council has served a two-day deadline on the migrants inhabiting the illegally erected shanties at Colmorod or face the wrath of the authorities early next week.
Margao Municipal Council Chairperson Savio Coutinho along with municipal engineers visited the shanties Saturday morning and found to his utter surprise the proliferation of illegal structures right under the nose of the authorities and the powers that be.
The Chairperson paid the visit after residents of Colmorod ward, which is being represented by Coutinho in the Civic body, lodged a complaint with the Municipality highlighting the mushrooming shanties in the low-lying area owned by Communidade.
The Chairperson made it quite clear to the hutment dwellers to dismantle the sheds and take away their belongings within two days before the Civic authorities confiscate all the material dumped at the site.
Margao PI Santosh Desai also accompanied the Municipal chairperson during today’s visit since the local residents have apprehended anti-social activities from the inhabitants of the shanties.
Locals have voiced insecurity on the road leading to the Margao railway station from the Navelim Church due to the large presence of migrants on the road at odd hours.
Complaints have also come from the locals that insanitary conditions prevail in the area in the absence of facilities for the inhabitants, who have let the illegal hutments by unscrupulous Goans for a price.
The chairperson told newsmen that the area has become an eyesore as the shanties have expanded in recent times. He said, the illegal structures were razed down by the Civic body last year, but soon resurfaced for some mysterious reasons. “I will not allow shanties to mushroom in my ward. The Municipality will crack a whip from Monday if the inhabitants fail to clear the structures by themselves”, he asserted.