In March-April this year heavy damage was done to the decades-old sewer lines by the Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) appointed contractor while undertaking the work for laying utility lines along the St Inez road stretches under the Smart City Mission. The damage caused was so heavy that raw sewage was seen flowing on the roads for nearly a month.
The damage to the old sewer line was done due to lack of planning and scheduling of works and also due to lack of supervision by the Public Works Department and other authorities concerned.
In mid-May the authorities concerned had claimed to have “fixed” the damaged sewer lines, but the ground reality revealed a different story as O Heraldo visit to St Inez found raw sewage continues to flow into the creek through a drain from an excavated trench, located close to a sewerage chamber near the St Inez Church.
The residents of Mala were forced to walk through stinking raw sewage flowing at their doorstep for at least three weeks in April earlier this year.
Both – the Panjim Urban Health Centre and PWD – had admitted that a building that houses commercial establishments in Neugi Nagar area was discharging raw sewage and also there was leakage in a PWD’s sewer line which led to the raw sewage to flow in the public drains of Mala.
To make matters worse for the residents of Mala, the sewage reached their doorstep particularly in buildings located near the North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA) office.
The quantum of raw sewage flowing in the area was so much that it had accumulated under the Mala-Patto Bridge in Rua de Ourém Creek and one of the main water pipelines supplying drinking water to the residents of the capital city was partly submerged in sewage near the Sinari petrol pump in the area.
Expressing his opinion on the Mala sewage problem, a retired engineer of the PWD said that there are no permanent solutions in sight in near future.
Flooding in Panjim during the monsoon is becoming a regular feature, but when it is combined with sewage water it becomes a nightmare for the people of Mala, Panjim, he said.
According to him, Mala sewage infrastructure is more than 45 years old and the replacement and enhancement of the capacity of wells, pumps etc are long awaited.
To make matters worse the entire sewage of Patto area of Panjim which was earlier released at Patto itself now pumped to one sewage well of Fontainhas, a part of Mala, Panjim.
Besides this, it is observed that those three sewage wells of Mala, Panjim itself cannot handle Mala sewage resulting in regular sewage overflow in front of the houses. He claimed that the sewage system management in Panjim is most ineffective due to lack of regular monitoring of the pumping system and partly due to defective and ineffective sewage infrastructure.
Fear are being expressed by the residents of Mala that the situation during the monsoon would turn out to be worse and it is high time for the authorities to step in make use of all available infrastructure.
