Team Herald
CANACONA: It is over 2 months now since the Manohar Parrikar Sea Side Link was commissioned, but the failure on the part of the contractor to remove the concrete and other debris from the site of this bypass road is posing a danger not only to the people moving around but also it poses a threat of environmental pollution to the water bodies in the vicinity.
Huge chunks of concrete, scrap steel rods, black polyethylene sheets, and other left over construction material can be seen in the vicinity of this 7.74km road, which incidentally was built by spending Rs 300 crore.
The construction of this important link may have opened up new development opportunities to the locals residing near this route as the thousands of vehicles, which used to go through old NH66 passing through Poinguinim are plying over this link, which reduces the travel time by 30 minutes and distance by 10km.
But the locals are irked over the fact that the contractor has failed to clear the surroundings of the unwanted material that was left unused or discarded during this road construction.
Locals said that lot of huge pieces of broken concrete are piled up on each other at Mashem and Galgibaga.
“Even though the link was inaugurated 2 months ago, the contractor has failed to clear the small and big pieces of left over steel rods lying under the place where the Galgibaga-Mashem bridge runs over residential areas at Mashem its hazardous for the locals residing there” they lamented.
“An iron centring plate is hanging precariously near a pier near the river bank at Mashem, as it is directly above where pedestrians walk if it is not removed immediately it can be lead to a fatal mishap said Matilda Dias a resident of Tarir in Mashem.
It may be recalled hat before the link was thrown upon to the public, local MLA Isidore Fernandes had had specifically instructed the NH66 authorities to get this debris removed.
