PANAJI
In another accident that has once again questioned the Smart City project’s smartness, a sewage suction truck partially sank in one of the roads at Tonca, which was dug to carry out sewerage work. The road in ward number 8 caved in when the heavy vehicle was taking its round on Friday morning.
Eye witnesses said that the truck driver was dodging the potholes when he lost control and crashed into the wooden barricades, leading to an accident. Fortunately, no person was injured.
The accident comes barely four days after a loaded tanker fell in a pit at St Inez injuring four labourers. None of the two accident sites had any proper safety measures in place with the District Administration yet to take the issue seriously.
The police have evidently shown their reluctance to register an offense against the contractors and government agencies, by merely booking the driver for negligent driving. The ongoing works, covering nearly the entire city, have led to huge chaos.
Congress was the first to take on the government for negligently executing the works of road repairs, beautification, and sewage. “It is disappointing to see yet another accident because of the road caving in Panaji, this time in our ward 8. Our Panaji MLA, Mayor and Smart City team have let us down big time with their dictatorial, inefficient and corrupt practices,” councillor and President of Goa Youth Congress Joel Andrade said.
The councillor claimed that City Corporation was not taken into confidence for implementing works despite requests, and demanded to stop the ongoing works till safety measures are put in place.
Congress leader Amarnath Panjikar took a dig at the government calling it “a smart way to test Smart City work in Panaji.”
He too alleged corruption in the works while pointing fingers at the double engine sarkar.
