The PWD workers on the job to repair the road in Margao city.
Santosh Mirajkar
MARGAO: Even as the PWD workers got down to the job of undertaking repairs of the damaged road passing through the city near the Margao municipal garden, a group of citizens also descended on the ground to check the name of the contractor roped in to do the work and under which work the job is being executed.
Commuters passing through the city had a torrid time in negotiating the innumerable pot holes along the stretch from the Clube Harmonia right down to the Margao Municipal garden this year.
Though the PWD had carried out the repairs on more than one occasion, the pot holes had only resurfaced within days, with the PWD blaming the authorities for the situation.
"We have come here at the site today to check out with the PWD officials as to under which work the repairs of roads is being undertaken, and which contractor has bagged the work", SCM Convener Savio Coutinho stated.
He pointed out that the main road stretch within Margao Municipal jurisdiction forms part of the NH 66 section and is maintained through the Fatorda PWD office. Saying this PWD division is in charge of the stretch from Nuvem to Panzorkonne/Cuncolim, he charged that there are numerous works awarded to contractors through Quotations and Tenders, and nobody ever knows which work is executed through which quotation/tender.
Elaborating further, Coutinho alleged that the contract is officially awarded to "X", who very often is a BHUMIPUTRA/Outsider, work gets executed by "Y", payments for the work executed by "Y" is made in cash by "Z" (interestingly a PWD Engineer), and eventually the bill cheque is drawn in favour of "X". “Through this, one can understand the nexus between the PWD officials and the Contractor's, obviously under the remote control of the elected dispensation”, he added.
Coutinho has promised to go deeper into this episode and come out with further revelation, saying finally it is the commuters and general public that suffers. The team of SCM comprised of Dr. Roslyn Pereira, Adv. Snehal Onskar, Iftiyaz Sayed, DamodarOnskar and Domnic Coutinho.
