PANJIM: Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) which is the implementing agency that is executing the work of developing ‘smart roads’ in St Inez area through a contractor under the Smart City Mission has expressed its inability to carry out sewerage work along Caculo Mall to Tonca Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) road stretch due to the monsoon.
The agency admitted that commuters are inconvenienced due to massive potholes that have developed along the said road stretch and informed that directions have been issued to the contractor to carry out repair works and make the road motorable for commuters.
“We are not able to carry out the work to construct sewerage chambers along the Caculo Mall to Tonca STP road stretch because of the monsoon. Also we cannot lay 700 dia pipes in the rain. So, presently we are focusing on the other works such as construction of pavement and ducts where different utility lines including electrical will be pulled through, and you can see this work going on along Caculo Mall to expert pharmacy road stretch,” a senior official of the GSUDA said.
“We want to finish the work of laying utility lines before September and in September we will undertake the sewerage works and immediately thereafter we will construct a concrete road along the Caculo Mall to Tonca STP road,” the official added.
He informed that the issue of massive potholes resurfacing along the particular road stretch was discussed with the top officials and that the contractor has been told to do soling of road immediately and full grouting once the heavy rainfall subsides.
Former Mayor and Senior-most Councillor Surendra Furtado said the road infrastructure work has been going on in St Inez for a long time causing great inconvenience to the local residents and the commuters, and claimed that the contractor who is executing the work had no plan when they commenced the work of constructing roads and related infrastructure.
“The local MLA and the City Mayor are not there…I don’t understand why? Where are we leading to? Why are the people of Panjim being punished? Are we being punished because ManojCaculo spoke a couple of times about Smart City? I don’t know… this is a very sorry state of affairs,” Furtado said.
“I don’t blame anybody, everybody should take blame on themselves. I have appealed to all the directors on the Smart City Board that they should tender their resignations in the interest of the City and through the media I have also urged the Chief Minister to accept their resignations. The Board should be reconstituted with technically-qualified persons such as engineers and architects having specific knowledge of the city,” he further said.
CCP Councillor of the area Joel Andrade demanded that the government consider closing the road for vehicular traffic as it has become “extremely dangerous” and demanded stern action against the contractor and the engineers concerned.
“It took a few hours of rain for the road along Caculo Mall to Tonca STP to develop big fat potholes. Smart City, PWD, GSUDA teams and CCP Commissioner have together put all of us to shame. The road is extremely dangerous, we followed up with the departments concerned but how much can we truly help when this government is hell bent on looting the public exchequer by abusing their powers,” Andrade said.
