A day after the unfortunate incident, owner of the ill-fated de-weeding machine Caesar Fernandes, has attributed human error behind the Sunday's incident at the St Inez creek, but asserted that the machine had done a good job in cleaning the creek of weeds right up to the fire station.
Caesar, who was in China when the incident occurred on Sunday however did not blame anyone for the incident. “The machine can carry maximum two persons as it is an amphibian machine that floats on water. However, as it has turned out there were more than two persons on board beyond the carrying capacity which was the immediate cause behind the machine turning turtle," Fernandes told The Goan.
The ill-fated machine has been towed back and is presently lying in a garage for repairs. “There is no damage caused to the machine body. But, as the machine has turned turtle, there’s some problem with the engine, the hydraulics and the electronics of the unit," Caesar said. The machine is presently lying in a garage at Colva.
Regarding the de-weeding work at the St Inez water creek, Caesar said said that major part of the cleaning of the creek was taken up in May and the work had reached the last stage.
“The de-weeding machine has completed the work from Kamrabhat to the fire brigade station with the machine working 10-12 hours a day. One can very well compare the state of the creek before and after the de-weeding machine was engaged in the clean up operation," Caesar said.
Saying that de-weeding machine is based on the Swedish technology, he said the machine cuts the weeds, clears the sediments and removes the garbage too.
