TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: The PWD sewerage department has found a novel way to tackle a leaking underground sewer line and a damaged chamber at Comba ~ an outlet from the chamber has been linked to a water nullah with the help of a pipe.
Around a kilometre and half away at Old market, near the Colva circle, residents of Madel fear that a similar fate may befall on them in future. The sewerage department has raised the sewage chamber upto road level, but the chamber is connected to another chamber to act as an outlet in times of emergency.
Says a Comba resident, Savio Rodrigues: “We have been experiencing problems with the leaking sewage chamber for quite some time. But the PWD has now connected the chamber to the adjoining water nullah with a pipe. This is totally unacceptable. The outlet has also filled up the adjoining fields with sewage water. This has to stop immediately”.
At the Colva old market circle, residents of Madel have put up a banner “sewage waste water to be soon released here” right on sewage chamber under construction. “We are convinced that the PWD is upto its old ways of discharging sewage water in the fields and nullahs. The residents have already lodged a complaint with the police and district Collector for appropriate action,” informed Savio Dias.
When contacted, PWD, Sewage Assistant Engineer, Rahim A Shaik admitted that the Comba sewage chamber outlet was created during monsoons for easy discharge of water. “There’s total infiltration of rain water in the entire Ambaji-Sirvodem sewage line. The outlet at Comba was created for discharge of the water from the underground line. Since the monsoons are now over, we will close the outlet by Monday,” he said.
When his attention was drawn to the sewage chamber under construction at the Colva circle, Old market, Sheikh explained that the chamber, which was constructed below the road level, has been raised in view of widening of the circle. “The PWD have no plans to release sewage water in the old market nullah. The outlet for the chamber has been provided to tackle the situation in emergency situations, especially during the rains. Let me make it clear that the chamber outlet will not be used to discharge sewage on a daily basis,” he asserted.
But local residents of Madel are not willing to buy the argument of PWD officials given the dubious role of the sewerage department in discharging raw sewage in the fields of old market and Ambaji with the three-decade old underground sewerage line literally lying in the dumps.
