It’s been over 18 months that the new Municipal Council took over under the reigns of MMC, Chairperson Babita Prabhudessai affiliated to the Goa Forward led by TCP Minister and Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai. Vijai advocates a separate municipality for Fatorda, one that will break away from Margao municipality and will require sustaining.
“It’s just a matter of moving a proposal to an application through the DMA and get a vote in the assembly and also get a nod from the municipal council and we have the numbers at both places so it is possible. We’re studying the feasibility of the same,” says Vijai who recently notified a new PDA for Mopa and also one for Greater Panjim consisting of the Kadamba Plateau region.
Vijai says the economics is not too difficult since tax collection of just Fatorda and the multiple dwellings and housing societies can be better managed. Also there can be revenue from the market which the SGPDA can hand over to the Fatorda municipality. Besides he wants the municipality to focus on heritage walks, the cultural avenue and also revenues from the sporting facility at Fatorda which includes the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium and other facilities.
Fatorda currently houses the Ravindra Bhavan, upcoming district hospital, South Goa Collectorate, Sports Stadium, Multi Purpose College Educational Complex, schools and institutions, Chowgule College, besides recently getting its own Fatorda Police Station.
“The constituency is slightly different urban no doubt but it has an ST population, has agriculture, traditional pork business at Donvoddem, has a cosmopolitan population of working professionals from Goa and non Goans also and hence, it needs a different municipality, often the issues of Fatorda are eclipsed in a larger municipality of Margao,” says Vijai.
While Digambar Kamat who’s been the six times Margao MLA and has been responsible of moving the SGPDA office, Ravindra Bhavan, South Goa Collectorate and south Goa District Hospital into Fatorda to ease expansion and traffic congestion, is completely fine with a new breakaway municipality.
“It’s a good move but the breakaway should not cause an imbalance. I am fine with a equal break of the existing 25 wards with maybe 12 to 13 wards consisting of existing municipality be put into Fatorda Municipality or for that matter only parts of Fatorda constituency are absorbed in a new municipality but it shouldn’t be done with a political motive to benefit one person or weaken another constituency, then it can be questionable,” explained Margao MLA and former Chief Minister Digambar Kamat.
“For residents like me, it’s purely an issue of whether Fatorda will benefit or not. Vijai Sardesai started his ministership pitch with ensuring that the Sonsoddo garbage dump will be cleared. While there was some movement post monsoons there’s no work being carried out there. Issues of stray dog menace, increasing the capacity of the dog shelter, garbage issues, no segregation of garbage collected, potholes, incomplete and delayed road works in Fatorda, sewerage issues continue to prevail in Vijai’s constituency and these need to be addressed on a daily basis. New municipality or not, I feel is the priority of promises not met since this council took over in 2016 as Fatorda First and meeting that super secedes a new municipality,” stated John Cairo from Fatorda.
Similar to John Cairo many Fatorda residents are affected by the unavailability of a full-time mamlatdar and the mundkarial cases and issues relating to property that are not addressed by the South Goa Collectorate for Fatorda and Margao region which people are bigger issues then just bifurcating for a new municipality.
