Margao: The Margao Municipal Council (MMC), on Thursday, passed a resolution to clear encroachments at the Gandhi Market to facilitate the construction of an overhead water tank.
The PWD has been tasked with constructing the tank, but has not been allotted land by the MMC.
The MMC has now resolved to remove encroachments on land at the Gandhi market and to allot the open space to the PWD.
The councillors have also criticized the MMC engineers and technical staff for going slow on the issue of illegal constructions at the market and have demanded that the work of the overhead tank be taken up soon.
“If there is an encroachment, it should be removed as the tank is of utmost importance,” said Babita Angle, MMC Chairperson.
The PWD was initially offered land at the old fish market, which was later termed as unfeasible. It was later given a 10×10 plot at Gandhi Market as per the prescribed requirement for the construction.
However, a kiosk is allegedly illegally occupying the identified space, and the MMC technical staff has been shying away from moving ahead with the work.
The MMC engineering staff had offered a 10×7 plot to the PWD, which was declined due to technical compulsions.
Several inspections have taken place and over three meetings have been held on this issue, but it still remains unsolved. A fire in a house at the Gandhi Market, which caused the death of two adults and injured several others, had recently opened the eyes of the authorities, and with the MMC new resolution, the work of constructing the tank is expected to move faster.
