TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Is the government waiting for a major tragedy to carry out repairs and renovation and ensure safety of the decades old government Junta quarters at Pajifond-Margao?
This question has come to the fore with most of the buildings standing tall on the PWD land at Pajifond ~ meters away behind Hospicio~ craving for attention. The B-type quarters are in a dilapidated state and all requests to carry out the repairs and maintenance on a war footing have only fallen on deaf ears.
The situation is not rosy either for C-type quarters, with the four-storey building awaiting repairs. That there’s water seepage on the staircases and steel exposed to rain water has not spurred the PWD authorities to take up the maintenance work on top-most priority.
Says ward Councillor Raju Naik: “The residents of Junta quarters had been knocking on the doors of the PWD authorities for too long now. Some of the quarters are in a dilapidated state. They require urgent repairs and maintenance.”
Raju said that though the residents had been paying monthly maintenance fees, no timely maintenance and repairs are carried out by the authorities. “The government should intervene and find out the stability of the buildings, which were built over 30-40 years ago,” he added.
When contacted, PWD officials pointed out that the department has floated two tenders to carry out the repair works of the Junta quarters. “Work on the repairs and maintenance will be taken up once the tender gets financial approval from the higher ups,” remarked a senior PWD official.
Residents, however, maintained that the PWD had floated the same tender last year, adding no repair or maintenance of the buildings has taken place since then.
Replying to a query, the PWD official said though the tender was floated last year, repair works could not be undertaken for want of any takers.
