Residents place makeshift warning signs, demand inquiry into newly constructed sewage project
The sewage manhole has collapsed on the main road at Fatorda near the South Goa District Hospital.
MARGAO
The Margao sewerage project in the commercial capital has come back to haunt the city after a sewage manhole on the main road at Davondem, near the South Goa District Hospital, collapsed.
In a bid to avert any road accident, locals placed plants to sound a caution to motorists to avoid landing into the virtual death trap.
Social activist Avinash Tavares slammed the authorities for turning a blind eye to the quality of work executed on the sewerage project. He demanded to know how the manhole has collapsed when it was constructed only recently.
He cited another instance wherein a sewage manhole had given way during the monsoons, demanding to know the quality of the work executed by the contractor. Tavares demanded that the authorities, including the Sewage Infrastructure Development Corporation of Goa (SIDCGL) initiate an inquiry into the collapse of the manhole and initiate appropriate action.
“How can a sewage manhole collapse after being put in place only recently. The authorities need to order an inquiry and fix the responsibility. In the past, sewage manholes had collapsed in the city,” he added.
The sewage issue plaguing the commercial capital had come under the lens of the High Court after a Navelim citizen Antonio Alvares filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Salpem lake contamination case.
While disposing of the PIL, the High Court had called upon the authorities, including the SIDCGL, Margao Municipal Council and the GSPCB to work in tandem to ensure that sewage is not discharged in the drains, polluting the water bodies.
