It’s not only the government schools in Mormugao that have been facing neglect from the state administration but even the government-owned quarters are being neglected. The families of the government employees are facing great risk due to the callous attitude of the authorities.
According to the residents, about 150 plus families of police personnel have been residing in a 35-year-old residential building owned by the Goa government. However, in name of repairs, the officials of Public Works Department (PWD) building section, which is the authorised agency looking after maintenance of government buildings, did nothing and leaving the building to collapse on its own.
“Leaking roofs, damp walls and falling of cement from the roofs is a common problem faced by almost all the families occupying flats in the government quarters located at Bogda in Headland Sada,” said a resident of Bogda police quarters. “Ironically the situation is far worse beyond imagination. Starting with water supply pipes to electricity wirings, sewage connection or even the floorings of the flats are in total dilapidated conditions. To add to our woes, the broken windows and doors show the sorry pictures of our hardships,” the resident added.
The residents have made several appeals to the PWD officials to come and inspect the site so as to make them understand the real situation prevailing at the police quarters. But all their requests have been turned down by the concerned officials. “I don’t even remember the year when the PWD officials had visited our area last time. It must be many years ago and the condition of the building speaks everything,” said another resident of police quarters.
Though the leakage and sewage discharge has become a routine affair during the rains, the current monsoons have brought more trouble for the residents. The residents have been facing severe water crisis for the last two weeks.
“We have been paying rent to the government but no facilities are made available to us. At present we have been collecting rain water to fulfill our daily needs. This is unacceptable but we are helpless,” said another resident.
The aggrieved family members of Goa Police recently met the local ward councillor Nilesh Nalvekar. Nilesh took them to Power Minister and Mormugao MLA Milind Naik’s office at Headland Sada. They demanded Naik’s immediate intervention in resolving the issues faced by the families residing at Bogda Police quarters.
The aggrieved residents also highlighted the pending repair works of the Police quarters due to which they have been facing severe hardships. The entire building has been leaking and reports of cement falling off from the ceiling has been posing risk to their lives as these buildings have now become unsafe for dwelling.
Angry with the lethargic attitude of the PWD officials, Milind claimed that he would talk to the PWD Minister and would ask him to take action against the officials who have been neglecting to take up repair works besides restoring water supply to them.
If the building repairs are not done on time there are high possibilities that the premises might collapse and innocent family members might lose their life, residents said. They hope that the concerned officials will act and avoid a catastrophe.
