The laying of underground sewerage pipeline and construction of chambers by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has wrecked havoc with the daily lives of locals and tourists holidaying on weekends.
The digging in Calangute has even resulted in one fatality last year, when a daily wage labourer lost his life.
With the onslaught of monsoons, the road from St Anthony’s Chapel to Holiday Street seems to have become unmotorable.
The potholed road has even led to accidents resulting in injuries.
The issue is similar in Baga, which is also undergoing sewerage work, and at times witnessing floods with heavy rains.
The locals are upset as the village roads were freshly hot-mixed only to be dug up later to lay underground pipes.
Many a time tourists have unknowingly fallen off their bikes after their two wheelers suddenly landed in such uneven places.
Locals too find it difficult to negotiate the ‘potholed’ road especially at night.
Sushma Naik, a local says, “It looks like the works are being carried out without proper plans as we find the main road dug up or full of potholes in Calangute.”
Another local Ghanshyam Nagvekar says, “the problem is mostly for the students and the office goers as speeding vehicles just splash water on them.”
Michael Lobo, MLA of Calangute, said, “The JICA team has completed almost 80 per cent of the underground pipeline and chamber work and remaining would be completed in another three to four months.
“I have been insisting with the JICA team to carry out the required works on road and restore them to normal shape so as to avoid any uneven roads which could pose a threat to life and vehicles,” Lobo said.
He said the people will have to bear this for some time as the sewage work is the need of the hour.
“Whatever said and done, Calangute is sitting on a bomb of sewage and if the work is not completed now it will never be done,” he said.
Regarding the road condition from St Anthony’s chapel towards Candolim, he said, “work on five main chambers and four side chambers is left and in Baga we have to complete work on 9 chambers.”
“We seek the co-operation and support of the people in completion of the sewerage network project in Calangute. I know they are going through hardships but once the work is completed Calangute would be free of sewage pollution,” he said.
