MAPUSA
In a glaring example of poor coordination among government departments, a newly widened and hot-mixed Siolim Marna-Sodiem link road was recently broken up to fix a water pipeline leakage.
The Public Works Department (PWD) workers were seen manually ripping off sections of the freshly laid road to locate the source of the leakage, sparking outrage among local residents.
A PWD contractor at the site explained that the road excavation was necessary to address the leakage.
“We were forced to dig up the road as there was a leakage in the water pipeline which needed urgent repair,” he said.
To minimise damage, the department avoided using a JCB machine, which would have resulted in the excavation of a larger portion of the road.
Local residents expressed their frustration over the lack of planning and coordination between the government departments responsible for the road and water infrastructure.
“They should have either shifted the water pipeline or addressed all related infrastructure issues before constructing the road,” one local resident commented.
Another resident criticised the wasteful nature of such projects, saying, “This is nothing but a waste of public funds under the guise of development. Moreover, this so-called development seems to serve the interests of builders and hoteliers more than the local community.”
The repair work, which has been ongoing for the past three days, has caused a lot of inconvenience for motorists who rely on this crucial link road.
The PWD official acknowledged the disruption, noting that residents had been without water supply for several days.
“We discovered that the leakage was originating from a valve located under the newly laid road. As a result, we had no choice but to open the road to access and fix the leak,” the official stated.
Despite assurances that the road would be replastered within three days, the incident has left a bitter taste among the locals.
They are calling for better coordination and planning in future development projects to avoid such disruptive and costly errors.
The episode underscores the need for comprehensive infrastructure planning and highlights the deficiencies in inter-departmental communication and cooperation within the government.
