MARGAO: A group of concerned Margao citizens on Friday gathered at the newly-beautified Ring Road near Margao Railway Station to expose the poor quality of work executed by the contractor responsible for constructing the town’s footpaths. Savio Coutinho, Convenor of the Shadow Council for Margao, led a press briefing with Arch. Carlos Gracias, Adv. Snehal Onskar, Manuel Pereira, Radha Kavlekar, Robert Vaz, Damodar Onskar and other residents, demanding an inquiry into the shoddy work.
Coutinho criticized the Margao MLA for compromising the quality of the footpath despite spending crores of rupees on development works. “As you walk over the pavers, you can feel them loose and wobbling. The state of the footpaths will be similar to what we see in front of the Margao police station,” Coutinho pointed out.
The residents showed reporters cracks that have already developed at several places, and stated that the footpath has sunk nearly 10 cm below.
They also pointed out the gaps between the pavers and the retaining wall, suggesting that the wall had tilted outwards and could collapse soon.
Coutinho slammed the PWD contractor for the poor execution, and called for repairs and restoration at the cost of the defaulting contractor.
“The sole purpose of raising issues in Margao is to awaken the residents of the town, so that they realize how they are being misguided and taken for a ride by their elected representative,” he said.
“The MLA very vocally announced the hundreds of crores spent on development works in Margao, but when such shoddy work is exposed, he remains totally silent,” Coutinho added.
