The open drains in Panjim city continue to be a menace. The most affected is the section along the road starting from Bal Bhavan to Miramar Circle and further on in patches starting from the Peace Haven Road to Kamat Supercentre road.
These sections have slabs removed for maintenance by the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) and have not been fixed yet for more than a month-and-half. These open drains full of dirt and garbage are posing a health hazard to the people leaving in that area. Already, several residents of the area especially at Aivao Village have informed that there is a high prevalence of dengue which could spread further and affect more people. COVID testing drive has already started as people are suffering from high fever.
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Recently, I had noticed a supervisor at the drain area near Miramar-Campal giving instruction to some of the workers to clean and close the drain by placing those removed slabs but no progress has been observed so far. I have already highlighted this issue in the Herald daily (Citizen Herald) previously, however nothing has been done. On the contrary, an open section/chamber which I highlighted in a photograph in the daily has now been covered with a traffic partition board only to fool the people. This open chamber is near the Kamat Supercentre, at Caranzalem. Also, the sewage from a nearby high rise building complex is causing problems. Although, the CCP allegedly helped the building owner get connectivity to a drain to flow into the river, the attempt failed and the sewage apparently is being discharged into the Taleigao fields.
I hope that this second reminder of mine opens the eyes and bears fruit with the CCP staff as well as the Taleigao Panchayat. Immediate action is required to re-direct the sewage. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. An attempt must be made to find out the existing drainage plans for whole of Panjim laid out (probably by the Portuguese regime). This is a necessity to prevent the outbreak of an epidemic and flooding the roads.
On enquiry, the workers pointed out that the direction of drainage currently is in the opposite direction and the sea level flow is also in the opposite direction.
In this time of COVID-19 pandemic, on the contrary the CCP and the Taleigao Panchayat should have started the cleanliness drive on those complicated areas much before the rains so as to have them completed well in time.
