Margao Congress Block Convener Savio Coutinho on Thursday alleged that Margao would have undergone “total transformation” if the funds shown as spent on development works had actually been used on executing the projects.
Addressing the media near the Margao Konkan Railway Station, at the site where PWD Minister Digamber Kamat laid the foundation stone for a proposed promenade two days ago, Coutinho was joined by Congress members Lalan Parsekar, Damodar Onskar, Javed Shaikh, Lincoln Gomes and Aziz Shah.
Coutinho displayed RTI documents obtained from the PWD and GSIDC, stating that the original plans included a four-lane ring road. One side of the road, he said, was asphalted, completed and inaugurated, while the second side remained nearly finished except for the final asphalting work.
“We are shocked to see that the Margao MLA chose to set up a promenade right on the road, which will result in narrowing the ring road,” Coutinho said.
He further claimed that the stretch from Victor Hospital to Power House junction has seen multiple foundation stone ceremonies and inaugurations linked to tenders worth several crores. Despite this, he said, each tender remained incomplete and was “foreclosed,” yet about 95% of the tender amount had already been paid to contractors.
Coutinho also criticised the Margao MLA over his remarks on the rehabilitation of gaddas. Responding to the MLA’s claim of filing a petition before the High Court, he said the petition was filed because notified vending zones were allegedly misused to set up gaddas. He accused the MLA of “lying” that the petition was dismissed, saying the court had instead directed the Margao Municipal Council to constitute a Town Vending Committee under the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act, 2014. He added that the Council remained in contempt of the court’s directions.
Coutinho also referred to the foundation stone laid by the Chief Minister in May 2023 for the improvement and widening of the road from Khareband bridge to Rawanfond circle, via Daivadnya Bhavan and Power House circle to Victor Hospital, estimated at ₹14 crore. Except for work on the Victor Hospital–Railway Station stretch, he said, no other work had been executed, even as claims of 60% completion and foreclosure were being made.
Pointing to “several acts of misappropriation of public funds,” including the Ganesh Chaturthi pandal issue, Coutinho said Margao would continue to deteriorate “so long as Madgaonkars tolerate such large-scale misuse of funds.” The Margao Congress Block urged the public to demand accountability to bring change in the city.
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