VASCO
Two families had a narrow escape when their house at Bela-Bai in Vasco was damaged after a retaining wall collapsed in the wee hours of Wednesday.
The back portion of the house of Anand Porreikar and Anish Parsekar collapsed at about 1 am as the retaining wall gave way due to dumping of mud. Luckily, no one was injured in the incident.
Vasco MLA Carlos Almeida along with Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) Chairperson Deepak Naik, MMC engineer, officials of Vasco fire service and Mamlatdar visited the site to take stock of the situation.
Almeida directed the MMC officials to remove the debris and clear the portion of the house that was damaged. He also directed the officials to clear all the mud dump.
Speaking to The Goan, Almeida blamed the locals who had constructed houses and dumped the mud which weakened the retaining wall.
“This is not a natural disaster, but man-made disaster. There is no passage for the rainwater to flow, due to which the wet mud dump weakened the retaining wall and the wall collapsed, damaging the house,” he said.
When asked for the extent of loss, Almeida said the loss was within Rs 2 lakh and whatever was circulated on social media was not true.
The fire officials present at the site also estimated the loss to the tune of Rs 2 lakh and said repairs will not be possible immediately due to the monsoon.
“The families should look out for an alternative place to stay till the monsoon, as there is every possibility of more mud from the dump flowing into the house if it rains on Wednesday night,” said an official.
Porreikar and Parsekar said the house was damaged not because of the rains, but due to the mud dump, which is excavated by cutting a portion of the hill to construct a controversial house.
They said they had brought the hill cutting and the construction work to the notice of the authorities concerned, but they failed to act and if the authorities had to act, this incident would not have occurred.
They said they don’t have any alternate accommodation and for time being they have shifted their families to their relatives place.
