PANAJI
The probe into the jammed Amthane dam gate and years of neglected maintenance remains in limbo, with the government yet to launch an inquiry into the glaring lapse “ despite Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s order nearly 20 days ago.
The CM called for an inquiry into the Water Resources Department’s (WRD) failure to release water from the Amthane dam on time last month. However, with no officer appointed to inquire, the issue has reportedly almost been forgotten.
When The Goan reached out to a senior bureaucrat at the Secretariat, the response was vague. “The file has been moved. As of now, there’s no inquiry. No officer has been appointed for the purpose until the file is approved,” he revealed, wishing to remain anonymous.
Bardez taluka was crippled by a severe water crisis after the left-bank canal supplying water from the Tillari reservoir to Goa was breached. In a desperate bid for an alternative water source, authorities turned to the Amthane dam only to discover its gates jammed.
This resulted in about a five-day delay in the release of water to the Assonora treatment plant. Sawant had stepped in, assuring strict action against the engineers responsible for the delay and dam’s poor upkeep.
However, despite two engineers being in the crosshairs for disciplinary action, the process has inexplicably stalled, at least for now.
On January 31, *The Goan* reported that WRD engineers had allegedly known for over six months about the dam gate’s decaying condition but took no corrective measures. The gates remained jammed due to a lack of available technical drawings to facilitate repairs.
Now, in a belated move to rectify the problem, the WRD floated a tender for constructing a new gate for the Amthane dam after finalising an estimate. WRD Chief Engineer Pramod Badami confirmed that the tender has been floated and the work will soon be carried out.
