VALPOI
Since the past 10 years, motorists have been struggling along a stretch of the Valpoi-Sankhali road via Honda near the main bazaar which gets flooded during heavy rains and locals have blamed the Honda panchayat and PWD for failing to resolve the problem.
Every year, the Honda panchayat is reported to spent Rs 4 lakh to clean gutters in the village, but when the monsoon begins, the main Valpoi-Sankhali road gets flooded near the main bazaar at Honda and motorists, especially two-wheeler riders, find it difficult to travel on the road.
Locals said they have regularly complained to the panchayat, but said the matter is yet to be resolved.
“The panchayat claims it cannot undertake work on the drainage system by the roadside as the road is owned by PWD. On the other hand, the PWD has not addressed this issue. So, who should pay attention to this road,” asked Govind Goankar.
“If the road was owned by the PWD, how did the panchayat deploy a JCB for work by the roadside? Honda panchayat is one of the richer panchayats in Sattari and yet, it has completely ignored the roadside drainage system.”
“The Honda panchayat says it spends around Rs 4 lakh every year for cleaning. But are these funds really used to clean the gutters,” asked Gaonkar.
The Sattari BDO confirmed that the Honda panchayat spends around Rs 4 lakh each year to clean roadside gutters during monsoon.
When contacted, Honda Sarpanch Atmaram Gaonkar admitted that the main road in Honda gets flooded near the bazaar during heavy rains.
“A proposal to increase the height of the road has been sent to the PWD,” said Gaonkar.
However, residents questioned the need to increase the height of the road and claimed that the road gets flooded in the absence of roadside drains at many places.
They pointed out that a stone fence on both sides at one stretch of the road has hampered the smooth flow of water and said roadside gutter was more important rather than merely increasing the height of the road.
