MARGAO
With monsoon just around a fortnight away, citizens of Benaulim and adjoining areas may pose a simple question to the Water Resources Department (WRD) officials and the powers that be “ Has the de-weeding of the river Sal started in the right earnest to ensure smooth flow of rainwater during the upcoming monsoon?
De-weeding machines ought to have been working round the clock along the river Sal at this time of the year to lift away the water hyacinth from the river course to pave the way for the smooth water movement in the coming monsoon, especially when the river flows in full spate during the peak season.
Reason? The WRD-appointed contractor engaged for the desilting of Sal over a year in 2021 is mandated to undertake the de-weeding for three consecutive years ahead of the monsoon.
A visit to the Sal course along the Khareband-Navelim and the Benaulim-Khareband stretch, however, revealed that the river course is still covered by a thick carpet of green weed. A stranger travelling to Salcete's coastal belt would find it hard to believe that under the thick green carpet visible from both sides of the Khareband bridge isn’t a green zone but the river Sal, Salcete’s lifeline.
One question that has remained unanswered is why the de-weeding is still not underway on both sides of the Khareband bridge when the monsoon is just a fortnight away, more so when the contractor is duty-bound to look after the upkeep of the river for three years.
When this question was posed to senior WRD official Ankush Gaonkar, he was forthright in admitting that the de-weeding ought to have been carried out in a big way by now considering that the monsoon is expected to set in by the first week of June.
“There’s a clause in the Sal desilting project that the contractor is mandated to de-weed the river for three years. The department can release the entire payment only after Sal is maintained for the next three years,” he said.
He added: “Records show that the Sal desilting project was taken up in 2021 and completed in 2022. As per the contract, the contractor is liable to de-weed the river for three years.”
When The Goan called up WRD Executive Engineer Gipson Miranda to shed light on the contract, the official said the contractor had applied for the release of the payments, but the department replied saying he has to maintain the river, including the de-weeding work, for three years.
Miranda, however, said he would find out from officials whether the contractor has started the de-weeding work.
“We have been told that the contractor has started the de-weeding work. If not started, we will make sure the contractor takes it up post-monsoons. The water hyacinth grows fast and makes its presence felt again within a fortnight,” he said.
Sources, however, said the de-weeing operation is required to be carried out before monsoons to ensure the free flow of flood water.
Even assuming the contractor has commenced the de-weeding work as per the claims made by WRD officials, questions are being raised about whether the WRD will get the contractor to expedite the work before monsoon.
