Will move HC by next week over dug up roads in Goa: Ferreira

PANAJI: Aldona MLA Adv Carlos Alvares Ferreira said he will move the High Court to repair the roads that were dug up after underground cabling works were undertaken across the state.He was speaking after inaugurating the work for repair of the existing gutter RCC slab at Nachinola from Augustine house to Mark Rego house in Ward 6, Aldona Constituency.The project entails a cost of nearly Rs 25 lakh, and the work period is 90 days for completion.Ferreira said that many people have been injured in vehicle accidents due to incomplete road works.“I want to tell the government, when the roads were dug up, you are assured to restore the roads. But now we have seen that the Electricity Department digs up the roads and the PWD comes to restore them. As per the law, the agency that undertakes digging work must ensure that the road is restored, and there should be a time-frame to finish the works. But when you have two agencies, the PWD comes later, surveys the site, takes measurements, draws up an estimate, puts forth a proposal for the work and then the project is executed after two years. In the meantime, accidents occur and people fall down. We can’t tolerate this,” he said.“I had apprised the government on numerous occasions, including the Chief Minister, PWD chief engineer and other officials about this. People’s patience has ended. A notice will be sent to the government by next week to repair the roads dug up due to underground cabling and also restore the washed-out roads. It is the duty of the government to restore it promptly. There are many Supreme Court and High Court judgments, including Allahabad and Karnataka High Courts, which say it is mandatory to repair the roads. I have advised some people who were involved in accidents and had approached me, to seek compensation from the engineer, the contractor and the government apart from initiating criminal action against them. Some people have even lost their teeth, while some injured their legs and hands. We will be going to court over this. This will not be only for Aldona constituency, but for the whole of Goa. They have to make sure that they have to take up proper digging, a timetable and a notice indicating commencement date and ending date of the work, and make sure they comply with it and undertake restoration promptly,” he said.Ferreira expressed happiness over the works taken up in Nachinola which was a long pending demand.“The sarpanch had told me about this problem. We have made several proposals under the MLALAD scheme. All returned and only a few were taken up and so we could only take up 9 projects. Then we converted those rejected proposals into regular proposals. This is an important junction. Some people had even fallen in the gutter. Also, regarding electricity poles and other works, we will have a meeting with the engineers,” he said. Nachinola Sapanch Freddy Fernandes said that two vehicles could not pass across this stretch. “The gutter work was done 25 years ago and the edge of the road had collapsed. The MLA has got this project passed, and I thank him on behalf of the people and the panchayat. I urge him to complete our pending works, including potholes and repair the dilapidated roads which are 15 years old. I also urge him to expedite work on speed breakers and electricity,” he said.Deputy Sarpanch Rupali Naik said, “People’s longstanding demand was to repair this gutter and safety. Children play and ride cycles and they would not do so due to the movement of vehicles. I thank the MLA for completing the work.”