Work on Salvador do Mundo’s panchayat ghar/sports/market complex has not yet begun despite approval from the Town and Country Planning (TCP) department and its tender being accepted by Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC).
The project’s foundation stone was laid on February 25, 2014 by former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, GSIDC Chairman Pramod Sawant and Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte. The project has been suspended for more than a year now.
The Salvador do Mundo panchayat office is located in an 80 sq mts house in Saloi. It is shared with the post office, talathi, and animal husbandry department. The panchayat staff does not have sufficient place to sit or store valuable records. Since the house’s roof tiles are broken, water seeps into the office when it rains.
The staff does not even have a toilet. They are forced to use the toilets in the neighbouring Sunandabai Bandodkar High School during the day. When the school closes in the afternoon, they have to use the toilets in nearby houses. Hence, the panchayat impressed upon the government the need for a new building.
Salvador do Mundo has developed rapidly in the last 10 years and the population has also grown substantially. However, the village lacked a good market complex and playground.
The panchayat later demanded a multipurpose project, wherein the panchayat ghar, a sports complex and a market would be available under one roof.
Thanks to Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte’s efforts, the government approved the multipurpose project at Saloi. GSIDC prepared the project, submitted it to TCP and got it approved. The project costs around Rs 22.98 crore and will have a football ground, a boxing ring on par with national standards, two badminton courts, a gym, the panchayat office, a sub health centre, 13 shops and an air-conditioned hall of 430 sq mts.
Khaunte stated that GSIDC had obtained the tender of M Venkatrao and Associates on February 19, 2015. He said, “The contractor now has to obtain the work order from GSIDC. The contractors these days hesitate to undertake news projects as the government hasn’t paid them for previous projects. The residents of Salvador do Mundo are eagerly waiting for this project. Once completed, they will get all facilities under one roof.”
He also requested the contractor to start the work soon.
The contractor M Venkatrao informed that his tender had been accepted by GSIDC and he was busy completing other legal formalities like obtaining a labour licence, etc. He added that he would start the work once all legal formalities were completed and the rain subsided.
