the goan I network
MAPUSA
A JCB was seized and a contractor and workers were detained by police on Thursday, after an angry Colvale Panchayat stopped the work by the Water Resources Department to construct a culvert on Tillari canal to provide access to plots at Colvale.
According to reports, the incident took place as work to dig a portion Tillari canal, passing between Colvale and Sodiem-Siolim via Cunchelim, was underway at Cunchelim at a cost of Rs 9.27 lakh.
Colvale Sarpanch Dashrath Bicolkar was alerted about the work and contacted Deputy Sarpanch Ritesh Varkhandkar, Panchayat Secretary Bhiva Thakur, Talathi A Dsouza and the Mapusa police.
The the work order, the WRD had mentioned Cunchelim instead of Colvale and there was not mention of the survey number.
Acting on Bicholkar’s complaint, Mapusa Police conducted panchanama and seized the JCB machine, while also detaining the contractor and a group of workers.
Bicholkar then notified officials of WRD but they did not turn up at the site.
“Without prior information to the panchayat, the WRD was illegally breaking its own canal. Farming activities are underway about 2-3 kms from from canal. Besides, there is a road about 200 mtrs from where work was being undertaken,” said Bicholkar.
“The WRD obtained no-objection certificates from 35 persons who are not engaged in farming activity. The government should conduct a probe on how this illegal activity was allowed to take place. WRD has an office in Colvale panchayat area, so how could they underway work to break the canal by assuming it is in Cunchelim village,” asked Bicholkar.
Deputy Sarpanch Ritesh Varkhandkar added, “A road already exists in the area and yet the, WRD is wasting public funds to construct road access to the plots.”
The contractor claimed he had begun work according to the work order of the WRD, adding that a WRD junior engineer had showed him the work site.
