In what left the outgoing Chief Officer of the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) Siddhivinayak Naik red-faced, the High Court of Bombay at Goa rapped him for his insensitive attitude towards those authorities who were assisting with the attempts to resolve the Sonsodo dump issue.
During the hearing of the PIL, it was not just Justice M S Sonak who pulled him up for only listing problems, but Advocate general Devidas Pangam also lamented how Naik was not willing to attend a meeting pertaining to the issue.
“I am sorry to say but the role of MMC seems to be only to point out problems and not give any solution. We will have to make this observation,” Sonak said as the division bench also comprising of Justice C V Bhadang heard the PIL for nearly an hour.
AG Pangam added that the government too had been given a list of problems by MMC and CO Naik was not ready to attend a meeting and had also switched his mobile phone off. “We agree with you,” the AG informed the bench adding, “All that we get is a list of problems. The CO was not ready to come for the meeting. His phone was switched off.”
The counsel representing MMC tried to justify that Naik did attend the meeting at the later stage, which was denied by the AG, who insisted that he was not present. As the MMC counsel spoke further, the bench warned of taking disciplinary action against Naik. The court also refused to accept the explanation that Naik’s phone was not working.
The bench further observed that the Sonsodo garbage dump site is an emergency type of situation. Meanwhile, Advocate Norma Alvares, appearing for the petitioners suggested to the court that a Chennai-based firm, an expert in this field, could be involved to tackle the problem at the dump site.
