MARGAO
June 8, 2021. When Environment Minister Nilesh Cabral with Environment Secretary Kunal descended on the Comba ring road to take a look at the sewage flow into a stormwater nallah, he called for the immediate connection of the damaged chamber to the new trunk line laid just meters away to stop the raw sewage water flowing into the river.
For 10 months, raw sewage continued to flow into the Sal via the stormwater nallah crossing the ring road with neither the PWD nor the Sewerage & Infrastructure Development Corporation of Goa treating the minister’s instruction seriously.
Citizens of Comba and Save River Sal activists can now look forward to better days, thanks to the Cabral effect. In fact, days after taking over the reins of PWD office, Minister Nilesh Cabral has directed the PWD and the Sewerage Corporation to lay a line connecting the broken chamber at Comba to the new line on the ring road, admeasuring around 150 meters, which would put a full stop to the flow of sewage water into the nullah.
Instead, the sewage water from Comba will be diverted into the new line via this interconnecting line which Cabral had proposed on June 8 last year, but could not be executed since he was not presiding over the PWD portfolio.
A visit to the site revealed that work to connect the sewage chamber to the new line has started on Sunday and if ex-Margao municipal councillor Ketan Kurtarkar is to be believed, Cabral has told the PWD to complete the work before the onset of monsoons. “I salute Cabral for giving prompt directions to the officials, so much so work has commenced on the ground. This work would stop the sewage flow into the stormwater nallah and save Combakars form the hazard of sewage water entering their homes,” Ketan added.
