MARGAO
After Margao, sewage raised its stink in Navelim constituency bordering the commercial capital, but for a different reason “ sewerage works launched around 8-9 years ago are still dragging on for reasons best known to the officials and contractors.
PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral, who descended in Navelim on Thursday for an on-the-spot inspection of the ground situation, has given the contractor timeline to complete the ongoing works by April next year so that the households and establishments can seek sewage connection from May.
Locals, however, wondered whether the sewage project launched close to a decade ago could be commissioned within four months. The PWD Minister, however, has stuck to his guns, directing the contractor to complete the works within the deadline.
The PWD Minister descended in Navelim after residents called on the local Navelim MLA Ulhas Tuenkar, complaining of the pending sewage works in Navelim village and outskirts. They pointed out that while the line is being almost laid in the village, the house connections have not been released in view of the incomplete work of micro tunnelling in the Nagmodem area of the village.
Conceding that work on the project has been pending for the last 8-9 years, the PWD Minister set April-end as the fresh deadline for the contractor to complete the works and commission the project. He also told the SIDCGL officials to ensure balance works, if any, including cross connections, are completed on a war footing so that house connections in Navelim constituency are finally released by May.
The villagers led by Arvind Tengse and others pointed out to the PWD Minister how the PWD and the SIDCGL have failed to release the house connections when the line and the sewage chambers are in place. They have called for expediting the ongoing works of micro tunnelling at Nagmodem so that the households can get the connections before the monsoons.
“We have now prepared a bar chart and the entire work will be monitored and reviewed every fortnight. The contractor has been given the responsibility to execute the work as per the schedule,” Cabral warned.
NAVELIM FEAST IN NOVEMBER DELAYED SEWERAGE WORKS, SAYS CABRAL
MARGAO: Even as the 7-day Old market fair has kept on hold of sewerage works in the old market area of the city, PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral on Thursday said the Navelim Church fest held in November delayed the execution of the sewerage works in the neighbouring village.
“When work is stopped because of any reasons, including village feast, the entire exercise gets disturbed. We had stopped the sewerage works in Navelim in November after the local MLA Ulhas Tuenkar made a request in view of the village feast. Now, the contractor is facing the problem of mobilising the manpower, who had returned to their home state,” he said.
He added: “When villagers had called me to stop the sewerage works in Navelim in view of the village feast, I had refused to stop the work. Then the local MLA Ulhas Tuenkar put in his word after being approached by the villagers before the work was stopped,” he said.
