TEAM HERALD
CHORAO: The Chorao-Kator Khazan bundh under repair has been washed away by the heavy rains, causing a huge loss to the government. The repair work of the 200-mtr bundh was in progress and 90% of the repair work had been completed.
While the Kator Khazan Association President Eknath Mapari has alleged that the bundh had been washed away due to substandard work, a soil conservation executive engineer has suspected sabotage in the matter.
“The Association had asked for a joint supervision of the work, but it was denied,” said Mapari.
“Before allotting more funds to repair the damaged bundh, the government should conduct enquiry and the guilty should be punished,” he added.
A ferry passenger, Rajendra Usgaonkar, said the damage to the bundh had caused saline water from the Mandovi River to enter into the fields during high tide.
“Sometimes, the road to the Pomburpa ferry gets submerged and poses all kinds of difficulties to motorists and pedestrians,” Usgaonkar said.
When contacted, Soil Conservation Executive Engineer P B Akki said he had doubts that some anti-social elements could have played mischief and damaged the bundh.
“I will start an inquiry and the loss will be estimated. About 90% of the work was completed,” said Akki.
Ex-sarpanch and a Chorao-based farmer, Pandurang Bandodkar, refuted allegations that anti-social elements could have played mischief as the incident had occurred close to the ferry point.
“It is sheer substandard work carried out by the contractor. The repair work was carried out by the soil conservation department under the supervision of the agriculture department,” he said.
Chorao Panch Salvador D’Cruz also felt that the bundh had got damaged due to poor construction work.
It may be recalled that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had inaugurated the repair work on October 24, 2012.
