Team Herald
MARGAO: Taking serious note of the grievances raised by the locals, the Raia village panchayat has decided to take up the long-pending issue of the flooding of Arlem National Highway with the concerned authorities. Sarpanch Judas Quadros told Herald that a resolution about the issue has also been passed at the recently held gram sabha meeting.
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Locals from Arlem, Raia and Fatorda had expressed anger over the recurrent flooding of their roads during the monsoon every year and had demanded a permanent solution to the annual problem.
“There is an urgent need to desilt, repair and maintain the drainage culvert on the road from Raicho Ambo to the Pepsi Circle at Arlem, on either side. This work should be done before the arrival of the rains so that commuters are not inconvenienced,” said Rosario Fernandes, a resident of Arlem.
This past monsoon, a 71-year-old man drowned in a storm water drain here, he recalled. “Youth were seen wading through the streets that resembled muddy rivers, reaching out to help motorists and commuters caught in the water,” said Fernandes. “Such issues resulting in hardships to the people need to be dealt with serious concern. I will take up this issue with the local MLA and the authorities,” assured Quadros. Sources said the Water Resources Department is still waiting for administrative approval to issue the tender to perform desilting of the nullah near the Pepsi junction, which is believed to be the major cause for the flooding.
