The 2011 IFFI inaugural was former chief minister DigambarKamat’s showpiece event. But at what cost? Around Rs 11 crores were spent torenovate Ravindra Bhavan in Margao to play host to the inaugural IFFI show.
Eight months down the line, the money spent on renovationappears to be wasteful expenditure. New doors that were built open to blankwalls. Luxury toilets sport leaking urinals and some more doors have cracked upand are falling out from their frames.
But what takes the cake, is the installation of unevenpavers, across an area of 1,000 sq mts, at the Ravindra Bhavan. The pavers wereinstalled at a cost of Rs four crores. Arranged in a haphazard manner, thepavers have loosened, as it appears they were hurriedly placed by using littleor no sand at all. “The pavers are so loose that two-wheeler owners tend to skidand lose balance when they go to park their bikes,” said Jhonny Mendonsa atiatr enthusiast. Tiatrist Lenny Lobo described how loose pavers createproblems for their pick-up trucks and goods carriers, carrying tiatr equipmentat the Ravindra Bhavan. Furthermore, the loose and cracked pavers on thefootpath and at the parking areas can easily lead to injuries to people walkingon them.
Though most of the renovation work was carried out by the PWDand GSIDC, most of the contractors have still not been paid for. “The workswere carried out by the PWD but we are waiting for the supplementary budget tobe approved. Payments remained in limbo because a month after IFFI, the code ofconduct came into force,” said Chief Engineer Zezito Rego.
“I will look into thematter and won’t mind removing the pavers and reinstall them. But this can bedone only after making payments to the contractors. The government needs tolook into mistakes committed by previous government, “said Damu Naik, the newchairman of Ravindra Bhavan.
