MARGAO
A portion of the busy Margao KTC bus stand-Old market circle road caved in on Wednesday evening, raising questions over the restoration work carried out by the agencies which had dug up the road for laying the underground sewerage line.
The incident occurred on Wednesday evening on the busy road, but alert citizens led by Margao Municipal Councilor Camilo Barretto and others got the spot barricaded before any untoward incident could occur.
In fact, Barretto informed that the road caved in just moment before an ambulance could pass by the spot when the citizens cautioned the incoming ambulance to go slow ahead of the depression.
By evening, the agencies were at work to fill up the road with mud by deploying heavy earth moving machinery on the ground.
A senior PWD official, attached to the sewerage department, said an underground sewerage line was recently laid near the site where the road has settled, adding that the agencies are working to restore the road.
Questions are being raised why the road has settled at a particular place, with further questions being raised whether the entire stretch of the road where the agencies have laid the line via the trenchless technology is safe for vehicular traffic.
Councillor Camilo Baretto informed that he was travelling back to the city after visiting the South district Collectorate when he saw that the road just before the Old market circle had caved in. “Without wasting time, I rushed to the circle and got a couple of barricades and arranged them at the spot, as a caution to the motorists over the danger that lies ahead”, he said.
Camilo added: “I have never seen such a huge depression on the road. Fortunately, the incident came to my notice just before an ambulance could pass by. This is a busy road and it would have ended in a disaster if the road had to cave in during night time”.
Later in the evening, traffic police personnel were posted at the spot to regulate the flow of traffic as the agencies got down to the work of filling up the depression, not just at the spot, but along the adjoining stretch as well as a precautionary measure.
Local residents of Madel, including Milagres Fernandes, Savio Dias and others also raised questions over the underground sewerage work carried out along the road. Dias pointed out that the contractor had dumped the mud dug out from the road on the MMC parking land, creating a dumping ground on the parking lot.
