The work on the Margao Sewerage lines and man holes, started in 2013 with a deadline of 24 months, has gone beyond schedule. It has been nearly four years for the work and the contractor awarded the job is still digging roads and constructing manholes.
Ironically, the Sewerage Corporation Plants are ready to accept sewage phase wise but the sewer lines of major areas of Margao still remain to be interlinked and connected to the main flow.
The flow of sewage on every corner of the streets in Margao is one of the glaring examples of how and why the Margao town civic body, which is an A class Municipality, may have missed the bus for Smart City qualification.
The JICA funded sewerage line laying project was awarded to a Hyderabad-based company NCC-Krita in Jan 2013 and was stipulated to complete in 24 months time. However, they have delayed the project from 2013 to 2017. The contractor is still seen digging roads for the manholes in several areas of the town.
It is also learnt that there have been delays in payments by the government but experts say that contracts are signed for finishing work in two years without any stop.
After taking charge, the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had called a meeting of the PWD officials to take stock of the pending jobs in Goa. However, now the plant has also been commissioned but the contractor for the manholes and chambers is asking for more time.
The consequences of the delay means the sewage goes into drains and later flows into the Sal River.
In an incident reported by Herald and taken up by the RTI activist Sriram Raiturkar, sewage of a hotel in the heart of the town was disposing sewage on to the main road. The establishment was later issued a show-cause notice for the offence. It has been informed that the hotel was given 15 workers who helped it to release the sewage into a drain on the main road. “Due to political pressure there has been no action whatsoever on some blatant violators releasing the sewage in drains,” alleged activist Sriram Raiturkar.
It is also known that the Health Department has been giving NOCs without any study of how much sewage is being generated by households or establishments. “It is apt that the sanitation NOCs have to be countersigned by the sanitation department,” said Raiturkar.
The Town Country Planning Minister, Vijai Sardesai, has been speaking about post occupancy audits. This Post Occupancy Audits has been in the 2010 regulations and also the PDA has resolved the same but no one has followed the same.
