Team Herald
PANJIM: The Public Works Department had a surprise visitor on Tuesday when an individual with spine injuries turned up at the Chief Engineer D C Gupta to demonstrate that his condition was due to the bad roads in the State.
The embarrassing moment was captured on camera as Rubetin Fernandes, along with others, gheraoed the PWD Chief Engineer demanding that the road from Margao to Canacona be hotmixed and that action be taken against the errant contractor.
“You can’t walk on the roads. There are so many potholes. Show me which road is good. There are accidents taking place due to the poor roads,” Fernandes told the media. He said he had no other choice but to come to the PWD office in Panjim.
The locals, who were accompanied by Congress leaders, turned the PWD office into a kitchen and bedroom by placing mats and boiling milk on an induction plate. They also carried vegetables to the office of the PWD Chief Engineer, demanding that they be given a place to stay there until the road is repaired and motorable.
Gupta assured Fernandes and the people of Canacona that the contractor awarded the work of Margao-Canacona highway, would be placed on the ‘black list’ for not starting the work.
Gupta also said that the contractor was not in Goa and that they have been reminding him and that on March 2 the contactor had assured to start the work. A show cause notice was issued to the contractor for not undertaking the work.
GPCC general secretary Janardhan Bhandari warned officials that they will not move from the place until they get concrete solutions to dilapidated roads.
Bhandari said that officials are giving ‘zero response’ to the follow-ups of the road work. “We met all the concerned officers of PWD. But they are not giving any response in regards to completion of the road,” he alleged.
He demanded that all pending road works on NH 66, including the newly-built Manohar Parrikar bypass at Canacona be started.
“Accidents on Margao-Canacona road have become an almost daily feature. People are facing health issues due to the bad condition of roads. Many have backbone problems. Hence, I request PWD to either declare the Margao-Canacona road as unsafe to drive or provide ‘stay facility’ to all the people of Cancona in Margao or nearby to work places, to avoid the accidents,” Bhandari said.
According to Bhandari, PWD had issued the work order to a contractor in October 2021, but the work has not started. “This is how the system of PWD works. Officers take bribes from contractors and hence the latter behave how they want by ignoring the work,” he further alleged.
PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral said, “I am not aware of this, I will examine and find out what are the problems and find an immediate solution.”
