PANJIM: Works are being carried out without application of mind under the Smart City Mission and one such prime example is ongoing sewer line work at Fontainhas, the heritage area of the Panjim city.
A sewerage chamber is being built at Rua de Natal, Fontainhas, with a Public Works Department (Water Supply) pipeline and also electrical cables passing through it.
There is a high possibility that over a period of time this pipeline will get corroded and sewage will seep into the potable water supply lines, and water will get contaminated in the entire distribution system and become a health hazard.
The work has exposed that the government-appointed contractors and engineers not only lack expertise but also common sense and their superiors are least bothered to monitor the ongoing works being executed under the Smart City Mission.
Local resident Vasco Dias said that if the authorities fail to take immediate corrective measures then it will lead to epidemic in the area.
“The labourers engaged in the sewer works have told me that water pipelines and electric cables are passing through all sewerage chambers on which they have worked and built. There is no co-ordination between the different departments and since these contracts are sublet, there is no supervision of such civil works by anybody or any agency,” Dias said.
“The issue has been brought to my notice. PWD is executing the sewerage work in that area. We have directed them to rectify the mistake immediately,” Chief General Manager of Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd Vijaykumar Honawad said.
PWD Assistant Engineer Rashmi Shirodkar claimed that she is constantly monitoring the ongoing works at Rua de Natal, Fontainhas, and added that she has asked the contractor to shift the sewerage chamber and ensure that no water pipeline or electrical cables pass through it.
It may be recalled that about two decades ago, sewage had mixed with the water supply pipeline in the city causing contamination and few people infected by hepatitis. Even a popular café in the city remained closed for few months till they laid new pipes keeping adequate space between them.
