Sewage pipe broken, phone cables cut, services affected

TEAM HERALD

bureau@herald-goa.com

VASCO: The contractor involved in excavating the road to lay pavers under the railway bridge at Vasco allegedly damaged the underground sewage pipeline and damaged telephone cables, disrupting services in the area.

While telephone officials were critical of the PWD’s reckless roadwork which had led to the unnecessary damage to the telephone cables, the PWD (Sewerage Division) said it would replace the damaged sewage pipeline with a new one. 

The PWD assistant engineer, however, insisted that he would not penalise the contractor for the reckless roadwork.

“Who told you that the sewage pipeline has been ruptured by the contractor? It’s an old pipeline and the PWD sewerage division will repair it. We will not recover the cost from the contractor,” said the AE Ibrahim.

Asked how the underground sewage pipeline could have been ruptured had it not been for the road excavating work under the railway bridge, Ibrahim refused to comment.

What was also surprising was the fact that the contractor had failed to adhere to rules making it mandatory to display a board providing details of the project. Moreover, the contractor had also failed to cordon off the excavated area with retro-reflective tapes and a red lamp to warn public of danger, particularly for motorists at night.

When contacted, PWD Assistant Engineer Ibrahim felt there was no need to display a board providing details of the project, since the work was not major.

When reminded that it was mandatory to display such boards, Ibrahim said he would direct the contractor to display the board and implement all the signages.

Despite directions from South Goa Collector I R Mihir Vardan to the PWD and the contractor to depute security guards and/or traffic marshals with retro-reflective jackets to divert traffic, the PWD has sought the services of the Traffic Police to divert the traffic and man the excavating area.

Asked why the contractor had not deputed his own persons as security guards and traffic marshals, Ibrahim justified the presence of the Traffic Police at all traffic diversion areas and at the excavation site. When reminded about the South Goa Collector’s order, Ibrahim declined to comment.

When asked to justify the deputation of the Traffic Police at the site, when security guards/traffic marshals should have been posted by the contractor in accordance with the collector’s order, Vasco Traffic PI Sudesh Nagvaker assured to withdraw the traffic police and direct the contractor to depute his own people.

When contacted, the assistant engineer of PWD (Sewerage Division) admitted that the sewage pipeline was old. “Instead of recovering the cost from the contractor, we will replace the pipeline,” he said.

However, the telephone officials blamed the PWD for serving notice of excavation of the road at the last moment.

“The contractor started excavation work and damaged telephone cables even before the telephone department officials could reach the site to inform them about the location of the underground cables,” said a telephone official.

Asked whether they would recover the cost from the contractor, the official added, “We have already placed the matter with our senior officials and we are awaiting the order.”