Goemkarponn desk
VASCO: A joint inspection of Kadamba Bus stand premises was held on Monday with Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho, Vasco MLA Krishna Salkar, KTC officials and former MMC Chairperson Nandadeep Raut.
The inspection was held after there was a request from Raut that a remote unutilised portion of the KTC Bus stand was being used as a playground for several years by the people from his ward.
Transport minister Mauvin Godinho after the joint inspection, said that the ground will be retained when the new bus stand project is taken up.
“The area is under the KTC, but the people have been using a small portion as a playground. We have been developing a lot of amenities for the new bus stand, which will be like a bus port, but human development is equally important. The people and children are already using the ground, and this is an opportunity for them because there are no playgrounds in this area. We will develop the ground further to develop human resources, which is an integral part of any development,” said Godinho.
“We have already provided basic amenities at this bus stand with fans, seating arrangement and a canteen. We are also trying to provide such amenities to the other side of the bus stand as well for the benefit of passengers,” said Godinho.
Vasco MLA Krishna Salkar said the Vasco bus stand was in bad shape.
“We had a ground here used by the locals at the corner of the bus stand, but the new plan for the bus stand will be coming from the centre. We urged that the minister Mauvin Godinho that the ground not be dislocated, and an area of 2000 to 3000 sq mtrs be earmarked for the playground so that the people can take this facility. We have requested that the ground be allocated in the new plan, and the ground be retained while we also have a state-of-the-art Bus Port,” said Salkar.
“We immediately took the tarring of roads in the first phase to stop the immense dust pollution that caused inconvenience to people. We then took up a shed and provided fans and benches for passengers and further cleaned the area of thick vegetation that was a breeding ground for mosquitoes,” said Salkar.
Former MMC Chairperson Nandadeep Raut said that the locals used the area much before he was even born.
“I am extremely happy that my request for retaining this ground and not depriving the locals of the playground has been accepted, and I have got an assurance from Minister Mauvin Godinho and Vasco MLA Krishna Salkar that an area of around 2000 to 3000 sq mtrs will be earmarked for this playground,” said Raut.
