TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The chief minister’s dream of making a futuristic driveway flanked by two metre footpaths has created a major nightmare for Dona Paula residents.
The work to make a cobbled driveway from the NIO circle to the jetty has resulted in residents not getting water for the past few days. Add to this the disrupted telephone lines and major chaos outside their houses, virtually making them prisoners inside their own houses.
However, thank God for small mercies, the electricity poles have been shifted and there are lights.
“My water pipe is jutting in the air. If it rain heavily we might actually get water,” says Brian Pegado who lives along the road – a small path now – to the jetty.
Saturday things took an ugly turn and unable to bear the inconveniences, suffering residents came out and stopped the machinery that was being operated in the vicinity.
Melwyn D’Silva, another resident and one who takes the initiative on this says that some 10 days ago workmen descended on the place like locusts. This was not for the first time that this had happened. Last year too, the road was dug up to lay sewage lines and the roads were not tarred till December.
“Last Sunday they cut off our power supply at 8 am and started laying electricity poles. Half of the road was dug up, and on the other side the poles were being removed. The electricity was restored only at 9 am,” he said, “We could not even leave the houses.”
According to D’Silva, when he asked them what they were doing they were taking the names of the Chief Minister, Sanjitrhy (Sanjith Rodrigues MD, GSIDC) and telling everybody that they were working on the orders from the ‘top.’
“Now our road had become a small lane,” says Brian, adding that he cannot even get water through a tanker to his sump as the tanker pipes do not reach the sump.
PWD officials when contacted admitted that this was a problem, and complained that they are having a problem all over the place wherever the work is going on. In Dona Paula, when the water was released on Saturday, there was a fountain that erupted due to the broken pipes. Electricity too has been given to the residents, but through overhead, albeit temporary lines.
“The work will take two months,” says Mir Kumar the contractor’s hand. “This will be a fully cobbled road,” he said.
“It is a footpath cum road at whatever width is available,” Kumar says with a gutter in the centre, which will have water pipe, electricity, etc.
He also says that the sewerage system from NIO to jetty is done but the rest remains to be completed.
Status of road near Sharada Mandir school
As of now the road still resembles a war zone. Albeit one that is slowly getting into some sort of shape. Though it is not clear what the final outcome will be.
The work is going at a snail’s pace at some places, at other places there seems to be virtually nothing going on.
Students still walk to the Mira Mar Circle and there is still a traffic jam at the circle as well as on the road opposite the school. Also school ends at 1.30 pm instead of the scheduled 1.45pm. But beyond that life goes on. After the media pressure has dissipated the pressure on the completion too seems to have eased.
