Renovated Lohia Maidan set to be unveiled tomorrow

Margao: The renovated Lohia Maidan at Margao will be thrown open to the public on Monday at a function to be held to mark the occasion, chairperson of Margao Municipal Council (MMC) Damodar Shirodkar said.
However, what has caused eyebrows to be raised is the unexplained delay in opening up the ground for the public, over two weeks after the ground was handed over back to the municipality by Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) following completion of the renovation work.
In its reply to a query by the convener of Shadow Council for Margao, Savio Coutinho, GSUDA said that Lohia Maidan was handed back to MMC on March 21, nearly a week after the deadline set for completion of the renovation work at an inspection by Margao MLA Digambar Kamat. However, despite regaining the ground in its possession, MMC failed to open the facility for observing the 113th birth anniversary of Ram Manohar Lohia on March 23, forcing the freedom fighters to observe the day in a low-key manner.
With MMC maintaining that the ground was yet to be handed back to it by GSUDA, the latter’s reply to Coutinho has come as a revelation.
Shirodkar when questioned over the matter, however, maintained that the letter declaring the handing over the possession back to MMC was received only 5-6 days back.
“Even considering that the ground was handed over to us on March 21, preparations were required to be done for the inauguration ceremony. We are holding the inauguration on Monday. The Shadow Council is only doing a publicity stunt," Shirodkar told TOI.
The Shadow Council has demanded that the renovated premises be opened for public forthwith failing which it has threatened to hold a “people's inauguration ceremony.”