MAPUSA
Upset with the delay in commissioning of the sewerage network in Mapusa, local MLA, Johsua D’Souza said no permission will be given to start the second phase unless and until the first phase of the sewerage system is completed and commissioned.
“I am very clear on this and I will ensure that till the first phase of the sewerage system is not successful they will not be allowed to go ahead with the work on phase two,” D’Souza said.
The commissioning of the much touted sewerage project has been delayed by more than five years.
The Mapusa MLA informed that he has been pursuing the matter with the concerned department for the last more than eight months.
“Although the sewerage treatment plant has been set up, till today it is not operational. Along with the Aldona MLA, we have been in talks with the concerned department. This has been going on for quite some time,” he said, sounding exasperated with the slow progress of work.
He further disclosed that most of the defective manholes have been repaired except for two “ one near the Ansabhat chapel and the other at Morod.
The contract to lay the sewerage pipeline in Mapusa and Calangute-Baga was awarded to Simplex Infrastructures Ltd in 2012 and work on the project began in April 2013.
The total cost of the project was pegged at Rs 152.72 crore and was expected to be completed in September 2015.
With a total of 1,429 manholes and 1,450 inspection chambers in place, sewerage pipeline network of around 38 km in length is complete in Mapusa.
The Sewerage Treatment Plant at Camarkhazan, Mapusa is also complete.
After the entire sewerage network is finalized the next step is to issue connections to individual households, which is to be carried out by the Goa State Sewerage Development Corporation (GSSDC).
The PWD had fixed March 2021 as the deadline to complete the entire sewerage project in Mapusa.
But the Covid-19 crisis coupled with the financial constraints had delayed the work.
The work on the sewerage network has been funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
