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State Government | Goa - India | PID: 186671
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After the controversy over laying a mud road in the Tar river at Mapusa, the water resources department (WRD) is embroiled in yet another one over blocking the flow of St Inez creek to build a wall on its western bank
The dumping of mud and construction debris in the creek at Camrabhat-Taleigao near the culvert and operations to pump out the water to facilitate construction of the wall has drawn howls of protests from citizens and activists over the ecological impact to the creek
TimesView
No contractor in his right mind would have dared to indulge in something so ridiculous and shocking – block the flow of the St Inez creek and drain it dry in order to build a wall on its bank. Coming close on the heels of the Tar river incident in Mapusa, the process of hiring contractors for WRD works is highly suspect. It’s time the WRD minister steps in before the creek suffers irreparable damage
The WRD in November 2018 issued a Rs 49 lakh work order to Assi Engineering for ‘flood control measures at Cambrabhat’. The project was taken up as the area had been witnessing severe inundation in the past few years during the monsoon
When TOI visited the site on Friday, mud and construction debris was seen dumped at two places, blocking the flow of water into and out of a portion of the creek. A pump was being used by the contractor to pump out water to be able to lay the foundation for a 170m concrete retaining wall on the banks of the creek. Work began on Tuesday
No board stating details of the project was placed at the site. WRD engineer Ashok Harmalkar told TOI that the dumping of mud and debris is only a temporary measure, and would be cleared once the foundation of the retaining wall is erected
Harmalkar said this method was followed because they didn’t want to disturb the embankment of the road along the creek
Urbanist Vishal Rawley, who has worked to clean up and beautify the creek over the past few years, said the creek is home to otters, snakes and species of birds. Residents of Camrabhat said they had recently seen a crocodile in the stretch of the creek where water is being pumped out
In Tar river, the contractor engaged by WRD had laid a 150m road in mid-river to facilitate transportation of silt by trucks due to lack of direct access. However, after activists and others pointed to the poor engineering methodology, the desilting was completed and the mud was later removed
| Updated on: 16 - Mar - 2019
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