Sadly, Tuesday saw water flowing only in a trickle from a fire hydrant at the Margao New Market. In fact, the fire hydrant was of no use for the fire men for want of the desired water pressure, once again bringing to the fore the apathy of the Margao Municipal Council and bureaucratic red tape in putting in place a dedicated water tank to boost water pressure in the hydrants.
The non functioning hydrant triggered outrage and anger amongst the beleaguered traders and citizens alike as it’s now around half a decade since the proposal for an overhead tank was mooted by the civic body at the Old Fish Market.
That the overhead water tank was not on the priority list of the civic fathers and the civic babus was evident by the fact that the proposal had been pending with the PWD since 2011, raising questions over the failure of the municipality to pursue the matter with the Public Works Department.
No doubt, the civic body had adopted a resolution on the construction of the overhead water tank way back in 2012, but it took more than six months for the municipality to submit a proposal to the PWD. Sources in the know said when the PWD finally received the Municipal proposal in 2011, it took around a year for the PWD to tender the project, indicating that the PWD too accorded priority for its execution.
And, when the work was finally tendered, it was bogged down by procedural hurdles after the PWD received a lone bidder for the work. PWD officials said the file was forwarded to the GSWB, which took considerable time in taking a call, before finally directing the PWD engineers to e-tender the project.
Statistics revealed that the estimate for the work of construction of the 100 m3 capacity overhead reservoir was granted administrative approval on June 7, 2011.
