MARGAO: A circular issued by the Administrator of Comunidades, South, seeking information from the comunidade bodies on monsoon preparedness has unearthed the grim situation at the Dicarpale hillock. Attorney of Dicarpale Comunidade, Leoncio Raikar’s reply to the Administrator dated May 12 shows that the local comunidade had submitted a list of structures on the hillock to the office of the Administrator. But, Raikar pointed out that a temporary shed has come up on the very site where a landslide had occurred. Also structures razed down by the authorities in the past have resurfaced at the same place.
Says Raikar, “The Dicarpale Comunidade through the Administrator, had submitted a fresh list of structures dotting the Dicarpale hillock for necessary action before the onset of monsoon. We have done our job of drawing attention of the authorities to the presence of the structures on the land in question. Tomorrow, the authorities should not point accusing fingers at the local comunidade body for inaction against the structures. The ball lies in the court of the Administrator and the District Collector.”
To drive home the point that the Dicarpale Comunidade does not shelter the structures on the hillock, the Attorney displayed a file of correspondence the comunidade made with the Administrator over the last two years.
When district Collector, Venancio Furtado, who is also the Chairman of the District Disaster Management Authority, was asked to shed light on the Dicarpale Comunidade’s correspondence on the structures on the Dicarpale hillock, he feigned ignorance that his office has received any such correspondence.
The exact cause behind the tragic landslide at the Dicarpale hillock on the outskirts of the commercial capital that buried alive the 11 labourers from Uttar Pradesh still remains a mystery. Neither did the State government institute a probe to dig into the possible reasons behind the tragedy nor is the hillock declared landslide prone till date.
