Team Herald
CANACONA: The work to remove thousands of cubic metres of soil dumped at the mouth of Mashem-Galgibaga River which was going on at a snail’s pace has been stopped since last few days.
And with the monsoon season approaching fast, it doesn’t look like the contractor would be able to restore the river to its original position within the time limit stipulated by the PWD.
Acting on the petition filed by Pemla Rodrigues against filling up of about 10 thousand sq mts of Mashem-Galgibaga River mouth with soil, the High Court of Bombay at Goa had passed an order in September last year to get all the soil removed from the river thereby restoring it to its original form.
Acting on the order, the PWD National Highways awarded the work to remove the soil to the lowest bidder who had quoted Rs 22 lakh against the tender amount of Rs 24 lakh.
The extent of filling in the river is about 10,000 truck loads and with the contractor removing only about 200 trucks till now, it doesn’t look like the entire soil would be removed in the specified time frame which is ending in 20 days from now.
Speaking to Herald, Pamela, the petitioner in the case said with sadness that the vast quantities of soil has created lot of stress on the river mouth, mangrove cover has been destroyed together with the formation of a huge sand bar.
“If history repeats itself and if it rains like the way it rained on October 2, 2009 the entire low lying villages of Mashem and Galgibaga including the Mashem bazar will get submerged causing losses to property and human lives.”
Manoj Prabhugaonkar, another green activist residing close to this river fill is surprised to know that the PWD has specified in the tender not to remove 3mts of soil surrounding each of the pier constructed on this land fill.
Sources in the know said that as the piers were designed to be on the soil, their stability will be affected if all the soil is removed and the piers will get exposed to the waves and other forces. “This is laughable to say the least,” Prabhugaonkar giggled.
The twin bridges of Mashem-Galgibaga and Talpona once commissioned would reduce the travelling distance from Canacona to Karwar by 10 kms and with the allegations of PWD and the contractor flaunting environmental laws in court, it doesn’t look like the already 80 per cent completed work of the Charasta-Mashem link road would be ready any time soon feels locals.
