TEAM HERALD
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CURCHOREM: Authorities in Curchorem have been caught in an unusual tangle barely days after the chief officer of Curchorem-Cacora Municipal Council (CCMC) and the Water Supply Department (WSD) sparred over the digging of a road near the railway footbridge at Morailem-Curchorem.
Authorities cannot explain who dug the road to lay a cable in the first place and Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral has now assured to enquire into the matter and take necessary action against the culprit.
It may be recalled that CCMC Chief Officer Agnelo Fernandes had threatened to lodge an FIR against the WSD if it failed to repair the road that was dug to lay water pipelines in the municipality.
Hitting back, the WSD sent a legal recovery notice to CCMC through the Quepem Mamlatdar, asking the council to pay arrears of water bills of public taps, amounting to about Rs 11 lakh, for the period from 1996 to 2010.
While no one can explain who dug the road to lay a cable near the railway footbridge at Morailem, sources suspect that some person had dug the road to lay a cable through GI pipes and had kept it open without restoring the road to its original state. They also speculated that the GI pipe snapped due to heavy traffic on the busy road and is now posing a threat to pedestrians and vehicles, particularly the two-wheelers.
When contacted, Fernandes said CCMC was not aware who had dug the road and similar views were expressed by PWD (water supply) and electricity department officials.
“We had not given any NOC to cut or dig the road near the railway footbridge to lay any cable and we are not aware who had dug the road,’ said Quepem PWD (Road Division) Assistant Engineer, Vassudev Gaude.
As a water hydrant of the fire services is located nearby, Herald then contacted fire officials but Fire Station in-charge Dilip Gauns said they had not laid any cable at the site.
Telephone authorities then sent a junior engineer to inspect the site and they also came to conclusion that the wire did not belong to them.
