Elderly, disabled face hardships in accessing govt offices at Osia Complex due to malfunctioning of lift

MARGAO: Senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PwDs) are inconvenienced and have complained about the difficulties they face in accessing government offices, as the lift at the Osia Complex in Margao is out of order. 

The four-storey building has various government offices from the second floor onwards.

With the elevator not working properly, they are forced to take the stairs to get to the offices of the Directorate of Transport (RTO) on the second floor or the Excise Department on the third floor. The first floor has private offices.

Incidentally, the lift works only if one takes it to the fourth floor where the offices of the Town and Country Planning (TCP) and South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) are located.

Many of the senior citizens or PwDs take the lift to the fourth floor and then walk down to the third floor. However, those who are in a hurry climb the stairs.  They also questioned what happened to the government’s commitment of making government offices PwD friendly.

The public have appealed to the government and authorities concerned to look into the issue and get the elevator fixed urgently and lamented that this has been the state of affairs for months now.

When government officials were contacted they said they have asked their higher ups to look into the issue.

Activist, Sanjeev Raitukar questioned “What is the government doing, knowing that the common man is suffering like this? The situation for senior citizens is even worse. There is a possibility of people getting injured. Can’t the heads of government departments look into this? Are they favouring the builders of this complex?”

Pointing out the cynicism, Sanjay Bandodkar said “I have been climbing the stairs for years and this lift has not been working since then. It is not just a matter of months. I have seen people suffering from health problems caused by walking up these steps daily. In fact when we raise this issue, the government staff jokes and says this is good exercise for us.”

Another visitor Cristovo Dias said “I had come to visit the Excise Department on the third floor and was shocked that the lift was not working.  I met senior citizens here who are asking us if the lift is working or not. There is no one here to help them either and no interest in trying to solve this.”

A senior citizen, Rodney Rodrigues pointing out that the problem exists since nearly a year, said “I am a senior citizen and we are facing a lot of difficulty going up and down. I had some work on the second floor. I had seen this same issue 8 months ago and thought it would be fixed by now.”