A delay to repair the 10-metre long culvert over the sluice gate at Manxer in Cortalim could lead to a disaster on the vital Sancoale-Cortalim road link.
The culvert, which is in a precarious condition with concrete disintegrating and the iron rods jutting out, could cave in at any time, delivering a double blow – disrupting heavy traffic and causing major damage to fields since the sluice gate below the culvert would also be damaged.
The worsening condition of the culvert was brought to the notice of the then Cortalim MLA Mauvin Godinho.
He had taken up the issue with the PWD and assured to tender the works on a priority basis, but when he shifted to the Dabolim constituency, there was follow-up.
Godinho had suggested that apart from broadening the culvert with railings, a footpath should be constructed from the Our Lady of Perpetual Succour High School to the National Highway especially meant for the students.
The issue was also raised by residents with then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, when a meeting was held at the residence of former Sarpanch Anthony Vaz, who is now the president of Cortalim Comunidade Tenants’ Association, to drum up support for the late Matanhy Saldanha.
Parrikar had assured the villagers that he would take up the issue of the new culvert and also the sluice gate after the elections.
“I have been pursuing this matter for a very long time. The Association had submitted resolutions to many authorities over the years, but nothing has happened,” Vaz said.
Another member of the Tenants Association, Paula Souza, fears that the first victims of the disaster would be 250-odd farmers whose fields will be at stake in case the culvert crumbles.
“The culvert will bring down with it the sluice gates which are also very weak and in deplorable condition and result in affecting the flow of water, thereby destroying the crops,” Souza said.
Souza said the Association members had met local MLA and Minister Alina Saldanha who had heard them and expressed a desire to bring about a solution.
Despite efforts, Saldanha could not be contacted for her comments.
Should the culvert cave in, it would cause major inconvenience not just to vehicular traffic, but also to hundreds of students of at least three schools in Cortalim, Sancoale and workers of industrial estates based in Cortalim and Sancoale, apart from other road users.
