The collapse of the roof slab of the open-air auditorium of the Kala Academy complex on Sunday night, has undoubtedly caused a big embarrassment to the Goa government, after the earlier assurances given by Chief minister Pramod Sawant that the work of renovation would be completed before the commencement of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) on Decemebr 8, 2022.
Several inspection visits to the site by Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude also assured that the work of renovation was satisfactory and on schedule. Surprisingly, it is now revealed that the collapsed slab was part of an old structure with corroded bars and without support. How is it then that this was not brought to the notice of the contractor by the inspecting PWD engineers and officials? Is it not a case of dereliction of duty and gross negligence?
Secondly, how can the contractor be blamed for the collapsed slab when Gaude has categorically stated that the collapsed slab had nothing to do with the work of renovation. So are we to believe that what happened on that fateful night, was more of an Act of God, than human negligence?
