Madkaikar set to be declared CCP Mayor today

NT NETWORK

PANAJI

With Uday Madkaikar, the councillor from ward 18, being the only councillor to file nomination for the post of city Mayor, he is set to be declared elected as Mayor of the Corporation of City of Panaji (CCP) on Thursday.

Ward 17 councillor Pascoela Mascarenhas was the only councillor to file nomination papers for the deputy Mayor’s post.

Madkaikar is from the Babush camp while the BJP has said that it does not have the required numbers to field a candidate in the 30-member Corporation.

Madkaikar, who filed his nomination papers on Wednesday, was on Tuesday selected as the consensus candidate for the post of Mayor for a one-year term by the Atanacio Monserrate alias Babus panel.

Addressing media persons after filing his nomination papers, Madkaikar said that his first priority would be to clean the city and probe into what led to the shocking slide of Panaji’s ranking to 337th position in Swatch Survekasha despite spending so much money.

He said that he would immediately convene a meeting of all the councillors and keep a close ward-wise watch and clear the black garbage spots and disposal of waste would be his immediate task after taking over the reigns of CCP.

As for the market issue, he said that the position is very clear since possession of land from Health department, PWD etc has come to the CCP and it would sign an agreement with tenants. He said that the process was set in motion by the former commissioner Ajit Roy.

“During the tenure of Vithal Chopdekar as Mayor, developmental works suffered a little since we required a local officer to understand and redress the problem of local people and local issues while IAS officer is not aware about local problems,” he said.

While replying to a query on Smart City mission, Madkaikar said that “all over the nation, officials involved in smart city projects have taken local bodies into confidence while only in Goa you’ll find they are in confrontation with local body. There should be cooperation and coordination between Smart City and CCP.”

He also vowed to halt the road diggings in the city by April 30 and set a deadline to finish work by April 29 as the monsoon is fast approaching.