Dept violates Collector’s order; Railway crossing witnesses traffic snarls
the goan I network
MARGAO
With the inundated subway remaining shut throughout the day and with PWD officials and workers enjoying the Sunday holiday, traffic snarls near the railway crossing was the order of the day. Till late Sunday evening, there was no sign of the PWD officials or workers making their presence felt at subway to start the water pumping operations, with apprehensions raised that traffic movement to the educational institutions around Comba would be hit if the water is not pumped out in the wee hours of Monday.
Vidya Vikas Mandal’s PRO Prof Manoj Hede lashed out at the PWD for not implementing the collector’s order in both letter and spirit. “How can the PWD ignore the order of the district collector, who is also the Chairman of the District Disaster Management Authority, who was specific in directing the officials to monitor the Comba subway on an hourly basis,” Hedge demanded to know, while accusing the PWD for its blatant failure to observe the order, putting lives of the student community and the motorists at risk.
He pointed out that the Vidya Vikas Mandal has given all possible assistance to the authorities, including a generator back up and operations of the pump by the institution’s night watchman. He, however, lamented that the PWD officials and workers have failed to operate the pump on Saturday leading to the rise in the water level in the subway to 85 plus inches.
What’s interesting to note is the fact that while the PWD had been repairing the damaged roads in the city, the roads leading to the Comba subway from the Vithal Mandir road remains unattended either by the PWD or the Margao municipality. Two huge craters on this narrow road on the subway side has been posing danger to the children for over a week now. Local residents say that the craters could be repaired with soling, but the PWD has turned a blind eye to the damaged portion of the road.
When The Goan called upon the Margao MLA Digambar Kamat to draw his attention on the pathetic condition of the road, he promised to send PWD workers to the site to take up the repair work on top priority.
