Elections to the Corporation of the City of Panaji Candidate: Bharati Heble Ward No XI Email:[email protected] Mob: 9326129171 H. No: 177/4, St. Inez, Panjim-Goa
Brief Introduction Bharati Heble is the present Councillor from CCP Ward 13 which covers areas of St. Inez and Campal. She is a retired School Teacher with an excellent service record and a past President of Inner Wheel Club, Panaji having a liberal and progressive outlook to life. She is actively involved in social service and her hobbies include singing and writing. She is the daughter of Goa’s legendary Poet Padmashree Bakibab Borkar. After her retirement as primary school teacher from Government school, Dona Paola, she contested the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) elections from the Panaji First Panel supported by Mr. Manohar Parrikar. “I was never into active politics but thought of contesting in order to give my best back to the city which has given so much to me”, says the Councillor in her brief message. At 68, she is one of the most active Councillors and makes a point to attend every single meeting, Government & CCP functions and programmes. “The only meetings I missed were when I went to visit my elder son Samir, a doctor, who is in Australia while my younger son Sandeep Heble who is a prominent RTI & Social activist has given me immense support. Many other prominent city residents have also wholeheartedly worked hand in hand with me for betterment of the ward”, she says. She is known for her honesty and simplicity and one can often see her travelling in local city buses. She has a friendly nature, visits ward residents regularly & has maintained good healthy relations with all, a quality which has served the ward well in executing various development works. She has proposed and recommended various projects for the ward, many of which have been executed and few are in the pipeline. “In our ward, most of the street lights were in a bad condition and in many places there used to be hanging electrical wires which were unsafe. We installed new street lights with underground cabling at various places to maintain safe and healthy lighting network in the ward. Around 50+ poles have been installed already and many designer poles with energy efficient LED Lights. Illumination of St. Inez cross roads junction and the culvert near Hotel Vivanta are also in the pipeline”, she says. The Saint Agnes or the St. Inez Church is one of the most historic landmarks in St. Inez. She proposed the Façade illumination of this church and the church is now illuminated under the Tourism scheme with LED colour changing lights, giving it an aesthetic aura and beauty. Designer Poles with energy efficient LED lights have been installed in the church compound. Sports/ recreational facilities such as Table Tennis Table and carrom boards have been provided at the St. Inez church which Parishioners especially young children utilize. Other sanctioned works in this area are Traffic Signals near St. Inez cross roads junction, Pedestrian Signals near the St. Inez church to facilitate road crossing, Replacement of Old street light poles in church cemetery, etc. “These few pending works are expected to be completed by mid-February”, she says. An Anganwadi school for small children is another pet project which has been completed during her tenure. “Previously, children used to be put up in a makeshift structure with water dripping on them during the rains. Now, a beautiful new Anganwadi school has been built which has brought smiles on the faces of children. Being a teacher myself, I am extremely happy to see the children now learning in a good safe environment”, says the Councillor. “Roads in ward were in an extremely bad condition. At Tamba colony, Greenland, Landscape Pinto Park, near Hotel Vivanta and various other places, hot mixing works were taken up on priority. Now, many roads have been dug-up to lay other water and sewerage pipelines and they will be asphalted as soon as these works are complete. Few more hot-mixing works will be taken up during the present round of works which are currently underway. Works of laying pavers, installation of wooden benches, construction of footpaths & repairs/ construction of drains are other projects which have been taken up at various places in the ward. 80 percent works have been completed and we intend to achieve 100 per cent targets by mid February”, the Councillor adds. The low lying areas in her ward, few parts of Campal like Greenland and Navketan colonies were previously unconnected with sewerage network. These works are currently underway through the P.W.D. Replacement of old damaged sewerage lines in Tamba colony & other ward areas which were unchanged for past more than 4 decades have also begun. Works of development and beautification of Open Spaces in the ward have been tendered recently by the GSIDC, scheduled for completion by April 2016. Proposals have been forwarded to the Government for rehabilitation of houses in St. Inez Bandh, construction of toilets in Ward, land acquisition near St. Inez bandh, etc. The Councillor has provided various inputs in the St. Inez creek development and beautification project. She made her recommendations based on a proposal given by Engineer R Dhume, which works involve pumping of clean water into the creek by installation of pumps. Few of these proposals have been initiated through corporate funding. A road from Greenland colony to YMCA has been proposed also. The Councillor conducts regular cleanliness drives, health inspections, fogging, etc in her ward to keep it clean and tidy all through. “Previously there used to be no door to door collection of waste in few pockets in our ward like the St. Inez bandh which we have initiated now and littering on the roads in our area has substantially reduced. Getting a garbage treatment plant functional for our city should be our priority”, she says. She is one of the few Councillors who is totally opposed to vote bank politics. During her tenure, she has taken up a zero Tolerance policy towards illegalities. “Whatever illegal hutments and encroachments were there, we got them demolished by following legal procedures and now beautiful gardens will come up in those spaces which works have been tendered”, she says. Bharati Heble will contest the Council elections from Ward 11. For the upcoming tenure, holistic ward development, 100 per cent sanitation and construction of toilets, proper garbage management, a sound Traffic Management plan and development and beautification of the St. Inez creek shall be priority areas for her, says the Councillor. “My full-fledged plan of action for Ward 11 will be released in a few days”, says the Councillor as she humbly appeals to the residents of the ward and Panjim citizens to support her candidature. “I will work with utmost dedication to provide modern civic amenities, promote few pedestrian-only roads, develop & beautify open spaces, keep roads and footpaths free from encroachments, keep localities regularly clean, healthy and tidy and involve citizens/ form committees for Ward development and maintenance”, she promises. She concludes by thanking Mr. Manohar Parrikar, Mr. Siddharth Kunkolienkar, Government & Govt. officials, Panaji First Panel & colleague Councillors, St. Inez Church Confraria, Parish & Youth committees and ward residents/ well-wishers, media and the city residents for giving her and the ward their unstinting support.
