panaji
The Lift Number 1 and Lift Number 2 at Junta House, which have remained non-functional for a very long time, will be functional by March 14 this year. Julio Fernandes, executive engineer, division-4, Public Works Department (PWD), said, “We are replacing the old elevators at Junta House. The work order was issued in November last year. The completion of work will happen by March 14, this year.”
Junta House is home to a number of important government departments like Directorate of Transport, Directorate of Panchayat, Department of Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs, Goa Forest Development Corporation and many others.
As a result, a number of people visit this building everyday. Since Lift Number 1 and Lift Number 2 aren’t working, they have to take Lift Number 3 or Lift Number 4 or the staircase. Goa Womens’ Forum recently spoke to North Goa Collector Nila Mohannan highlighting the lack of care on the contractor’s part and also the plight of daily visitors. Subsequent to this, Additional District Magistrate of North Goa, Vikas Gaunekar, also sent a letter to PWD asking them to submit a report on the issue.
Lorna Fernandes, convenor, Goa Womens’ Forum, said, “On last Friday (January 19), I personally noticed that the doors of the Lift 1 & Lift 2 on all the floors of Junta House were just left opened with some scaffolding on the inside of the lifts. It was very dark and not noticeable that the doors were open and there was no person attending to the works.”
Lorna Fernandes took up the matter with both the contractor (a certain Abdul Razzak) and a junior engineer of PWD (a certain Mr. Bhobe). However, she found their comments unconvincing and then decided to take up the matter with Mohannan.
Julio Fernandes, said, “To deal with the situation, PWD itself has fixed plywood outside both Lift 1 and Lift 2. We didn’t even request the contractor to do it.”
