PANAJI: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Sunday declared that Goa will be made plastic and garbage-free by June 18 next year.
Speaking at a function held at the Azad Maidan in Panaji to commemorate Goa Revolution Day, Parrikar said that his government is clear on the issue of making Goa free of plastic and garbage by June 18, 2018.
“If our clarity of thought and singularity of purpose is clear then by next June 18, whether we can make Goa free of plastic and garbage or not, we have to decide. The government’s clarity on this issue is clear and the government will never back out on this issue. It is for the people to decide. Let’s take a pledge to make Goa free of plastic and garbage,” said Parrikar.
The Chief Minister said that the government would make installing of dustbins in public buses mandatory to avoid littering by passengers on roads and this would be the first major step towards achieving the target by June 18, 2018. He said that by July, all operators will compulsorily have to keep dustbin in their buses and that the bins would be cleared at every bus stand.
“While the government will act proactively to create facilities, I appeal to the people to let us maintain the beauty of the state and start a revolution today for Swachh Bharat and Nital Goem,” he said.
On the occasion, president of Goa Daman and Diu Freedom Fighters Association Chandrakant Pednekar raised the long-pending evacuee property issue of Mayem and urged Parrikar to resolve it at the earliest.
Responding to Pednekar’s request, Parrikar said, “Government has already formed a roadmap to address this issue, there are some little hurdles which I will try to resolve at the earliest.”
Earlier in the day, Goa Governor Dr Mridula Sinha, along with the Chief Minister, paid homage to the freedom fighters at the Martyrs’ Memorial at the Azad Maidan.
Remembering Dr Ram Manohar Lohia’s clarion call to the people of Goa to unite and fight against the colonial regime, Sinha urged Goans to maintain peace, which this state got after the revolution on June 18, 1946.
The Governor also called for the active involvement of the people to support the endeavours of the government in Swachh Bharat Mission.