**************************************************************** Documented by Goa Desc Documentation Service & circulated by Goa Civic & Consumer Action Network (GOA CAN)<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ***************************************************************** ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PWD lacks proper approach towards city problems: Panjim Municipal Council -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Panaji Municipal Council (PMC) chairperson, Mr Ashok Naik, has accused the Public Works Department (PWD) of total lack of proper approach towards various problems the city faces, including the perennial problem of floods. The chairperson in his June 24, letter to the Chief Secretary, Mr Baleshwar Rai has claimed that "the PMC under the present Chief Officer had put in maximum effort to ensure that atleast the drains in the areas traditionally prone to flooding were desilted. But inspite of their best efforts, the PMC is facing the brunt of the citizens for no fault of theirs." Mr Naik invited the Chief Secretary's attention to the reports of raw sewage flowing into the Mandovi river and disclosed that he had received proof that it was being undertaken by the PWD (Sewerage) and requested that the Chief Secretary ascertain this fact by engaging his own technical experts. He also mentioned that the sewerage system of the city was shut for a long period of time. Mr Naik further appealed to Mr Baleshwar Rai, the chairman of the Task Force Committee for Panaji, to initiate action for bringing about improvement, better co-ordination and enforce accountability among the various state agencies responsible for the present situation the city faces. The PMC chairperson disclosed that "the PWD (roads), despite providing the time schedule of hotmixing the main roads of the city, from the state funds and giving assurances from December 2001, not a single road was hotmixed except Dada Vaidya Road, that too from the PMC funds." On the contrary, the PWD (Roads) has dug up two places, near the old Goa Medical College complex right across the D B Bandodkar road for cross drains, which the PMC chairperson states could have been done earlier instead of being done during the monsoons. "The PWD (Water Supply) dug up the Rua de Ourem road and footpath without PMC permission and inspite of repeated calls to the assistant engineer, Mr Panchamukhi to get the road restored no action was taken. Now some people were blaming the PMC for the recent mini bus accident on that road," the chairperson stated in his letter. Mr Naik stated that "another example of utter disregard of the PWD's assistant engineers and junior engineers was the re-digging of trenches restored by the PMC, at Lake View Colony, Miramar to shift some water connections which were a severe threat to life." He observed that many departments such as Electricity, PWD (Roads), PWD (Sewerage), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and the private entity Hughes Telecom had found the rain water drains easy conduits. They also left the trenches open and poorly compacted. He complained that inspite of an organised scientific tree pruning drive with the involvement of the Botanical Society of Goa, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Forest department, Fire Services department and Electricity department, the latter department was currently pruning a few branches unscientifically and leaving them on the roads. Instances of the Tourism department workers collecting garbage from the Miramar beach and dumping it on the Miramar-Dona Paula road, where it gets scattered were also highlighted in the letter. Appealing to the Chief Secretary to make the various agencies accountable for their actions, in order to bring about an improvement in the situation in the city, Mr Naik also remarked that the poorly managed Kadamba terminus created a bad impression on the minds of visitors entering the city. ---------------------------------------------------------- THE NAVHIND TIMES 26/6/02 page 1 ---------------------------------------------------------- ======================================= GOA DESC RESOURCE CENTRE Documentation + Education + Solidarity 11 Liberty Apts., Feira Alta, Mapusa, Goa 403 507 Tel: 252660 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Working On Issues Of Development & Democracy ======================================= =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
