TEAM HERALD
VASCO: Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida pulled up South-Western Railway (SRW) officials for filling low-lying areas. He said the natural flow of rainwater had been blocked, resulting in a flood-like situation for the residents of Sonia Apartment and neighbouring buildings since Thursday.
According to Almeida, the SWR officials were building a community centre adjacent to the railway bridge in Vasco. The contractor had filled the area, blocking the rainwater that used to flow down from the main road into the catchment area at Belabai. Almeida said that directions had already been issued to clear the land.
The MLA had called an emergency meeting on Friday, which was attended by Mormugao administrators and SWR officials. They later inspected the affected areas and instructed the railway officials to remove the filling immediately. However, finding the attitude of the SWR officials lackadaisical, Almeida asked the Mormugao deputy collector, who is also in charge of the taluka’s disaster management committee, to write to the South Goa Collector seeking action as per disaster management.
“Besides the issue of filling, the issues of the road under the railway bridge and the compound wall constructed by SWR for the community centre were also discussed. According to local authorities, the wall is an encroachment. Another joint meeting will be called very soon to resolve these issues,” said Vasco Councillor Krishna Salkar.
