MARGAO MUNCIPAL COUNCIL TO CRACK ON ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES IN MARGAO CITY

In what could be seen as a signal that the civic body will not tolerate illegal commercial activities in the town, chief officer of the Margao Municipal Council (MMC), Prasanna Acharya said he will put an end to the illegal trade operation being carried out at a workshop at Chandrawado, Fatorda. The case in point dates back to January 2009 when a Fatorda local complained to the MMC against the workshop in question, stating that refrigerators were being repaired at the unit that was located in the midst of a residential area, thus causing a nuisance and inconveniencing the neighbourhood.
After dragging its feet for considerable time, the MMC conducted a site inspection on May 4, following which notice was issued to the owner of the unit to produce documents justifying his commercial operations in the area. Responding to the notice, the unit owner admitted on May 11 that he was running the trade without relevant approvals from the MMC. The civic body then issued a show cause notice to him on June 3 for carrying out commercial activities in an illegal manner.
Then chief officer of MMC Y B Tavde issued another notice to the unit owner on August 10, directing him to stop all activities in the unit within seven days failing which necessary action would be taken against him. As all this failed to have any bearing on the owner, the matter came up for discussion at the last meeting of the public accounts committee (PAC) headed by Fatorda legislator Damodar Naik held on October 6, where MMC chief officer Prasanna Acharya assured the committee of taking necessary action in the matter before the next PAC meeting was held. Acharya dashed off a final notice to the erring owner of the commercial unit under the Municipalities Act and the Public Health Act on October 23, to shift all goods and equipments from the said premises by 9am on October 26, failing which all goods would be confiscated and premises sealed.
"I received a reply from our technical section that everything from the premises was cleared," Acharya told TOI.Significantly, the next meeting of the PAC is scheduled to be held soon. Asked whether the MMC would initiate similar action against other illegal commercial activities in the city, Acharya said: "Definitely. All illegalities will be dealt with in a stern manner.