Rs 65-crore underground sewage project to replace the eight-km ageing line hangs in limbo
TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Blame it on ‘resource crunch” or simply otherwise, sewerage projects considered a dire necessity to put a stop to raw sewage from flowing in the fields and storm water drains in the commercial capital have hit a big block.
While nothing is heard on the Rs 65-crore underground sewage project to replace the eight-km ageing and defunct line connecting Arlem-Fatorda to the Sirvodem treatment plant, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar’s promise to set up ambitious pumping stations to stop raw sewage from flowing into the picturesque Salpem lake is yet to take shape near the Kudchadkar hospital.
When Herald contacted senior PWD and Sewerage Corporation officials to throw light on the fate of the two crucial projects, they simply said that the two projects are awaiting government nod, including financial approval. That’s not all. The officials stated that while the pumping station project might receive a nod later this month, which will be set up along with the 22-MLD treatment plant, the fate of the Rs 65 crore pipeline replacement project remains unknown. “No doubt, PWD officials have prepared estimates for the replacement of the entire Arlem-Sirvodem sewerage line, but the project has not received the attention it deserves for want of funds. It has not even been decided whether the PWD or the Sewerage Corporation would take up work on the project as and when the government gives its administrative and financial approval for the line replacement project”, remarked an official.
Sources in the PWD here maintained that unless the old and dilapidated underground line from Arlem to the Sirvodem treatment plant is replaced on top most priority, they cannot rule out the possibility of raw sewage water getting into adjoining drains and fields till the replacement. “The line is totally down and out. Infiltration has rendered the line defunct. The line is believed to have submerged at so many places. The exact picture will be clear once the agency testing the line submits its report”, the official added.
The PWD (sewerage) was in the news recently when it was caught on the wrong foot while discharging raw sewage in the fields at Comba. In the past, sewage water from the underground line was found released in the fields in the old market and Ambaji areas, posing nuisance and health hazard to local residents. “We are helpless in tackling the situation. You cannot expect the sewage to flow into the treatment plant when the line is damaged at a number of points. Replacement of the three-decade old line is the option left to stop further damage”, the official added.
