A portion of the road has caved in and the collapsed retaining wall near the Santan Church yet to be rebuilt even after a year.
Photo Credits: Manuel Vaz
OLD GOA
It was on June 28 last year that the retaining wall near the Santan Church collapsed and the public were hopeful that the wall would be rebuilt before the Touxeanchem Fest, which is celebrated every year on July 26.
However, it appears that this year too, the retaining wall will not see the light of the day as the repairs have yet to be initiated.
When The Goan visited the site, trees have grown at the collapsed portion of the retaining wall perhaps helping in prevention of the wall from further collapse.
Worse still, a portion of the road has caved in and there are multiple cracks to the tarred surface on one half of the road, prompting fears that half of the road could also cave in with the ongoing monsoon.
The road continues to be closed for four-wheeler traffic but the two-wheelers are continuing to use the road endangering the lives of motorists along the route.
It may be recalled that the retaining wall collapsed as the height of the road was increased and an additional layer was constructed over the existing wall to supplement the increase in the height.
However, the existing retaining wall was unable to bear the weight of the additional layer of wall, leading to its collapse.
After the wall collapsed, then PWD minister Nilesh Cabral visited the site and assured that inquiry would be initiated to ascertain why the additional wall was constructed over the existing wall without studying whether the old wall would be able to bear the weight.
However, it is not known whether such a probe was initiated and if so, whether responsibility was fixed.
When contacted over the undue delay in rebuilding the collapsed retaining wall, St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar informed that the tender for the retaining wall has already been approved.
“The tender for rebuilding the retaining wall has been worked at Rs 76 lakh. But the work is pending as the work order is yet to be granted,” Borkar said.
When questioned whether the work would be completed before the Touxeanchem Fest, to be celebrated on July 26, Borkar said he cannot say whether it would even start before the feast.
“I am unable to say when the work order would be issued and therefore I cannot state whether the retaining wall would be completed before July 26,” the MLA stated.
But, he exuded confidence that the retaining wall would be rebuilt before the commencement of the Exposition of the Scared Relics of St Francis Xavier.
“I can definitely say that it would be completed before the Exposition starts on November 15,” Borkar assured.
This road is a shorter route to Old Goa to people residing in areas like Santan, Batim, Curca, etc.
It also helps in diverting the traffic whenever there are traffic jams along the Kadamba road.
Now, it remains to be seen whether the retaining wall gets completed before the Exposition and the road is thrown open for the public.
