Team Goemkarponn
CANACONA: The Mahajans of Shri Mallikarjun Devalaya at Avem-Khotigao have appealed to Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant to revoke the cancellation of the work order for the temple’s beautification and renovation project, stating that the decision has stalled a long-awaited development initiative.
Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, the temple committee said the Goa Tourism Development Corporation Limited (GTDCL) had withdrawn the work order issued to contractor Allabaksh Mulla following controversy over the award of the contract.
Temple committee president Sahil Dessai said the issue had been unnecessarily communalised because the successful bidder was a Muslim contractor. He clarified that while the contract had been awarded to Allabaksh Mulla through the prescribed tender process, the work would be executed by experienced Hindu sub-contractor Jagdish Bhat, who has undertaken temple renovation works in the past.
Dessai questioned whether there was any law preventing people from other communities from participating in public tenders for temple-related projects and pointed out that contractors from different communities had previously carried out similar works at temples in Goa, including the main Shri Mallikarjun Temple at Shristhal.
Appealing directly to the Chief Minister, Dessai urged him not to be influenced by what he described as false and politically motivated propaganda. He requested the government to inspect the condition of the temple and allow the project to proceed without further delay.
Mahajan, panch and former Khotigao sarpanch Anandu Desai said the government had sanctioned ₹12 crore for the overall beautification and renovation project, with the first phase valued at ₹5.42 crore already tendered. He said the 350-year-old temple urgently requires renovation and clarified that the sanctum sanctorum and the main temple structure would not be altered. Instead, the project is aimed at upgrading and beautifying the temple complex in two phases.
He also said that customary purification rituals would be performed after completion of the works, as is the practice for temple renovation projects.
Mahajan Rohit Desai and several other Mahajans also appealed to the government to reconsider its decision, revoke the cancellation of the work order and allow the beautification and renovation works at Shri Mallikarjun Temple, Avem-Khotigao, to begin at the earliest.
