PORVORIM: PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar acknowledged in the Assembly that 30 per cent of the pre-monsoon maintenance and repair of roads remained incomplete even as he assured to direct dept officials to get the roads rid of potholes immediately.
Responding to the complains by the ruling as well as opposition MLAs that the roads across the State are in a bad condition, Pauskar said repair works ahead of the monsoons remained incomplete due to unavailability of tar. “The annual requirement of tar for the state is 30,000 tonnes and to ensure that the same problem does not occur in the future, the dept will be appointing an agency, which will import the tar for the dept. We will not have to depend on other states or any specific company,”he said.
He added that the dept has roped in a jet patcher machine on trial basis to get rid of the potholes along the important roads. “The service roads near the Zuari Bridge which are with potholes will be taken up and another agency which has come with another technology to get rid of the potholes will be taken on board on trial basis”, he added. He further informed that PWD engineers will also be held responsible alongwith the contractor for the maintenance of the highways and that all the roads will be completed by the 2020 end.
Stating that sewage connection to every household will be mandatory, Pauskar said the dept will provide a sewage connection every household, which has a water connection and levy an additional fees of Rs 25 on the water bill to recover the costs of the connection.
‘Dept is not lacking funds’
Refuting claims the dept was lacking funds, he said, “After the contractors complete the works they have to load the bills and only then they will be paid. The dept has enough money as per the budget provision. People should not be taken on a ride that the govt has no money and spread fear amongst the public.”
He added that the dept has enough money to make Goa shining and the dept has already disbursed Rs 45 crores to contractors undertaking works on water supply, roads and buildings.
‘Will get 24/7 water supply by 2025’
Pauskar reiterated the CM’s assurance that the State will be able to receive 24×7 water supply by 2025. He said all water treatment plants in the State will be upgraded and steps are being taken to ensure that people do not receive muddy water. He added that under the Centre’s Jal Shakti Abhiyan scheme, old pipelines as well the pipelines with small diameters will be replaced.
Stating that the dept is under acute shortage of staff with most junior engineers having 3-4 charges, he said “All employees who have completed five years in service will be taken into the PWD Employees Society and their salaries will be deposited into their accounts.”
He stated that it is unfortunate that the engineers who have been promoted legally have not been receiving salaries. He said that their file has been moved for their salaries and the CM who is also holding the finance portfolio is expected to clear the file soon.
