MAPUSA
Walloped by the opposition and public criticism on the bad condition of roads in Goa, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday directed the PWD (road division) to ensure that all roads are potholes free by November 1.
Sawant also said that the PWD does quality work but many times the problem was the delay in completion of projects.
“The PWD minister has taken the responsibility of the potholes on roads on behalf of you (PWD engineers). You have to take the responsibility that from Nov 1 there are no potholes on the roads. I understand the State experienced very heavy rainfall this year. But after Nov 1 there should not be any potholes on roads,” Sawant said.
The chief minister was addressing a gathering of senior PWD engineers and officials after inaugurating the new annexe PWD building at Altinho, Panaji.
Continuing, Sawant said the PWD was carrying out good quality work but many times the department was criticised due to delay in completion of works.
He said he wouldn’t like to blame the engineers alone because the delay could be on account of various reasons such as delay in obtaining structural drawings or payments not happening on time.
“But if you remove the delay then the PWD and the department’s structural wing can give quality construction and with speed,” he said.
He said he was aware that even if there was a small pothole or there was no water for a day, people won’t take time to criticize or swear at the government of the day and the department
“At the same time we must see that the department officials are working 24x7 and produce quality work,” he said and urged the officials to take the opportunity to tell those who criticize what quality work they (PWD) do.
The CM also urged the PWD engineers not to get swayed by the diktats of the politicians but to see if the work was really necessary.
“You people are the planners. No doubt politicians like the local sarpanch and panchayat members will ask you to do this and that. But you need to judge. You are the planners who have to decide whether it is really required or not. You must decide whether it is the priority or not,” he said.
He further said considering the good rainfall the State gets and the sources of water available, there should not be a shortage of water in the State.
“We have to plan properly so that there should not be any shortage of water. Every PWD division whether it is roads, buildings, water supply, sewerage or architectural wing should take the State’s interest into account and accordingly plan and work,” Sawant said.
He also said that unused government buildings and properties have to be worked upon so that these can be reused.
