Due to the damaged sewage pipeline, the digging work undertaken by the sewerage department has caused a nuisance to the vegetable and fruit vendors and also to the pedestrians Coal dust pollution may have stopped in Vasco, but dust pollution still prevails in one area of the port town and this time, the sewerage department is the unexpected culprit blamed for the mess.
Residents of Vasco are annoyed over the constant digging of the road by the sewerage department near the vegetable market between April and May since the past three years.
The sewerage department has been digging this particular stretch of the road after claiming that the underground sewage pipeline frequently gets damaged due to soil erosion.
The road-digging work not only creates difficulties for the fruit and vegetable vendors as the dust settles on their goods, it is also causes problems to pedestrians who visit the vegetable and the fruit stalls.
“Due to the constant dust, we are losing business. Earlier, it was the coal dust which used to hamper our business and now since the last one month, we are subjected to the dust caused by vehicular moment and as a result, customers are reluctant to buy our products,” complained a vendor.
Vegetable vendors claimed that many of their vegetables are perishable and it cannot be sold the next day.
“Dust settles on the vegetables and we find it difficult to remove the dust from them. The dust even enters into the packed stuff like mushrooms and sprouted pulses, due to which the customers do not buy them and the vegetables get spoilt the next day. We have had to suffer a loss due to the digging of the road,” added a vegetable vendor.
Incidentally, vegetable vendors are not the only ones aggrieved by the road-digging work. The activity on one side of the road has forced authorities to restrict traffic on the other side of the road and the one-way traffic has led to frequent traffic jams and inconvenience to two-wheelers and pedestrians. Despite being an accident-prone zone, traffic police is posted at the site only for a short duration during peak hours.
To add to the confusion, city buses make a halt near the vegetable market to pick up passengers, further adding to the traffic jam.
“Why is only this stretch of the road dug every year to replace the sewage pipes? The contractors may be doing a shoddy job and they may be getting a contract the next year to repair the pipes,” alleged a resident.
“Invariably, the same stretch gets damaged every year and it is dug during the last two months of the summer. What is also surprising to note is that the digging work is carried out even during the monsoon season. The PWD should come out with a concrete solution to this problem, instead of spending taxpayer’s money on this road every year. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar should divert little of his attention towards Vasco, which has been neglected by the councillors and politicians,” the resident added.
When contacted, PWD Sewerage Department Assistant Engineer Mr Pai sought to justify the frequent need to repair the sewage pipeline.
“Since the area has a high water table, the soil gets eroded and damages the pipe. Earlier, the sewage department had laid earthen pipes and due to depression they would crack. Last year, we had undertaking concrete soling work but due to the leakage in the earthen pipes, loose soil would enter the pipes and block the flow,” said Pai.
“This year, the earthen pipes will be replaced with six metre PVC pipes, which will solve the problem,” said Pai and assured that the work will be completed by May end.
