Stability in politics is always associated with development. This might not be true with the Bicholim Municipal Council (BMC), which gave stability but failed to woo any new projects for the city.
In the ten-member BMC, the chairperson’s post was reserved for women, and Karuna Govekar tasted the fruits of power. The deputy chairman’s post was first given to Narayan Betkikar for about two-and-a-half years, while Riyz Baig later took over.
Although there were not many changes in both posts, many Bicholim locals feel that this stability did not help in developing the city. One of them, Deelip Dhargalkar said, “The BMC failed on all fronts. No doubt there was stability, but they lacked the planning that was required for the city’s development.”
He continued, “The panel was not able to get any new projects for the city. They might boast of the market complex and a foundation stone that was recently laid for the Bicholim ground, but these projects were planned by the councillors during the last tenure. The market complex was already constructed, and this panel took almost five years to lay the foundation stone of the ground when the government had already sanctioned the money.”
Dhargalkar also charged that some councillors were more concerned about their own ‘development’ rather than that of the city. He said, “For five years, the councillors were busy changing their ‘loyalty’ towards parties and candidates for personal gain. They miserably failed in their attempt to bring about any change in the city.”
Another Bicholim resident Vithal Vernekar had the same opinion about the council. He said, “The councillors had no foresight, they lacked in planning and some of them did not even have proper education. Just cleaning gutters and maintaining roads are not considered development and the councillors should know that. They should have thought about the next generation and planned in advance. Next time the people should vote properly, taking into consideration even the educational background of the candidate so that such things are not repeated.”
When contacted, Councillor Narayan Betkikar claimed that during last five years almost all roads from the city and in some wards had been hot-mixed, the foundation stone of the ground had been laid and shifting of vendors to the new market was done.
He added, “We have done more work than other panels as far as the roads are concerned. Work of another Rs 2 crore is already sanctioned.”
When pointed out that they did not get any new projects for the city and that they used the money brought in by the earlier panel, Betkikar was quick to blame the government. “The shifting of vendors to the new market complex – that too without any issues and agitations – has been our great achievement. It was a long-pending issue and we handled it in a proper manner. If we were unable to get any new projects it’s because the government did not support us. The setback for the BMC was because of the government’s apathy towards our demands,” said Betkikar.
He added, “Development is a continuous process. If the people claim that we have benefited from the tenure of the earlier BMC panel, the next panel will certainly get the fruits of what we have done.”
