THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024
DHIRAJ HARMALKAR
Vasco: The JICA sponsored PWD water supply pipeline which was laid down five years is still not operational. The water pipeline will give much-needed succour to many locals of Sada and adjoining areas.
The reason for the delay is however piquant. The ‘culprit’ is COVID which has been in the air for 5 months. What’s the connection? There’s no connection but just an excuse.
Yes, there is an acute shortage of labourers to undertake manual construction work. Half of the work has been done and half awaits. This begs the question? What was done for the past four and a half years?
When efforts were made to know about the conditions of the water supply pipeline of both main pipeline as well as internal pipelines from Mormugao, some shocking information surfaced. Most of the internal pipelines are around 40 years old and the main PSC (Concrete) pipeline is around 30 years old.
Speaking to Herald, Subodh Shirodkar assistant Engineer JICA revealed the pipeline covers the following stretches: 17 km from the Verna pump station to Headland Sada, 7 km from Arlem junction to Borim bridge, a 22 meters span at the railway over bridge at Dabolim junction and pumping stations at Baina.
Of this, the pipeline from Verna to Headland Sada has been laid. Besides from Headland Sada to Dabolim airport area the pipeline has been commissioned. At one stretch at Dabolim junction, the work is pending on the railway overbridge.
At the overbridge, there has been a delay in getting No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the South Western Railway. The Engineer also claimed that as soon as the PWD receives the NOC from the SWR then within two to three days time the work can be completed.
Engineer Shirodkar reiterated that the work has been badly affected due to the migration of labourers during his pandemic. But the reasoning does not pass muster for a project literally in the pipeline for five years
When asked about the funds utilised for this JICA-sponsored PWD pipeline project, Shirodkar said that around Rs 1 crore worth work is pending. The entire project of JICA water supply pipeline is worth Rs 45 crore. This project has got the extension because of this COVID-19 pandemic till November 2020. For completion of the pump station, almost two months will be required therefore by the end of 2020 the work will be completed.
Later, a source from the PWD Water Supply section on the condition of anonymity said that the main PSC pipeline is around 30 years old and since then it was not replaced but he quickly added that the timely maintenance to avoid this pipeline bursting is being done.
When contacted, Urban Development Minister and local MLA Milind Naik whose constituency is hit badly by the water shortage issue in summer said that for the last four years he has been pursuing the pipeline-related work. “The pipeline is very crucial and once it is commissioned, all the areas from the Headland Sada area and other places where the water supply issue is prevalent will receive a good amount of water," Naik added.
Councillor from Sada, Shashikant Parab also agreed that a few years back and even during the summer season people suffered acute water shortage. He said that people get water for two to three hours and not throughout the day.
A vigilant citizen Jayesh Shetgaonkar further said, “The water which we get from Selaulim PWD pipeline is not sufficient. The pipeline which we get water is 30 years old and these old PSC pipelines cannot withstand the pressure of the water and this further leads to breakdown of pipelines and water shortage".
