The restructuring and restoration of the Dona Paula jetty is another project that has seen a lot of summers as well as a lot of water from the river and sea moving under this rickety, weak and collapsing jetty.
As it faces a prospect of closure, let us not lose sight of the fact that this unsafe jetty was allowed to be accessed by tourists and subjected to footfalls for close to three and half years . The work of the repair and restructuring of the Dona Paula jetty was approved way back in October 2014. However the situation on the bridge got worse. Herald, on 1.09.15 ran a full page story on the extreme stress and weakness on the jetty which following which the Chief Secretary, R K Srivastava, quoting from, and attaching a clipping of Herald’s report, wrote to MD GSIDC for a complete action taken report on the work of the repair of the Dona Paula jetty.
For a project approved in 2014, there was no commencement of work through 2015, when the seriousness of the jetty’s precarious condition was noticed by Herald, right up to November 2016 when the High Powered State committee directed to GSIDC that the government must take a stand on the closure of the jetty and that all stress studies on the jetty including the all important non destructive test should be duly submitted to the Principal Chief Engineer PWD, to “avoid any catastrophe”.
From the tone of the message to GSIDC by this committee of experts and the very clear words “to avoid any catastrophe”, the urgency of commencing the work of restoration of the jetty was clearly underlined though not quite visible.
Then 2016 moved to 2017 and it is reliably learnt that sometime in February 2017, the GSIDC is believed to have received the Non Destructive Test Report, (NDT) which, it is learnt, did conclude that the jetty was not in a condition for any use.
It was clear to all agencies involved that the jetty was not safe for public use but the period of inaction on its closure and repair dragged on from the beginning of 2017 to the end of November 2017 to be precise. According to Herald’s background search of reportage and information, on the issue, on November 30 2017 the project moved from GSIDC to the vehicle which is implementing Panjim’s Smart city project.
However, the big ask is can work on the jetty, preceded by its full or part closure, commence without the formal availability of the Non Destructive Test? And pending the availability of such reports, can the bigger reality of the Dona Paula jetty being absolutely unsafe and unfit for public use, be ignored? There appears to be no option but to close down this iconic tourist spot immediately and a decision taken on its repair, restoration or rebuilding, immediately.
A decision on this, which will ultimately be taken by the North Goa Collector Ms Nila Mohanan, who in turn, along with the government may look at some of the issues raised in this editorial. It needs to ask if the delay of four years for this project is justified and what were the exact reasons for a delay in decision making. And has this delay led to a situation where the total rebuilding of a new jetty, as opposed to massive repairs of the existing but collapsing one, is a necessity rather than an option. And this necessity will also enhance the costs of the project.
