Margao: Even as there’s no stop to overflowing sewage from the manhole on the main road behind the Margao Municipal building, motorists and pedestrians must contend with double trouble -- sewage stink and potholed road.
While the overflowing sewage has raised a stink on the main road in the heart of the commercial capital, craters have raised their ugly head on the road near the overflowing manhole.
The Margao Municipal Council has shifted the city bakers from selling the humble pao, and poie near their usual place of business, just 10 metres away from the overflowing sewage manhole.
About The Problem Of Overflowing Sewage Manhole
The Sewerage Infrastructure Corporation of Goa Ltd (SIDCGL) and the PWD, meanwhile, have no clue how to plug the overflowing sewage manhole. Sources in the know say that the sewage manhole will stop overflowing once the rains subside and the water level recedes in the low-lying areas of the city.
For now, the sewage manholes in the city are all overflowing due to the rainwater infiltration into the underground sewage line. Motorists contended that the traffic police have only installed a traffic cone at the sewage manhole instead of barricading it. And the continuous discharge of sewage mixed with rainwater has damaged the road around the manhole. According to sources, a lady rider narrowly missed crashing her two-wheeler near the manhole.
“The discharge of sewage from the manhole continuing unabated for over a week now has created a crater. Motorists cannot see the crater since it is always waterlogged due to the continuous discharge of sewage from the manhole. In the fitness of things, the traffic police should secure the manhole with a barricade so that motorists do not land inside the crater and meet with an accident,” remarked a two-wheeler rider.
Given that the sewage manhole is spewing sewage mixed with rainwater, the road from the manhole to the Margao Residency is getting damaged with each passing day. Craters are forming on the stretch, with motorists fearing that the road will be washed away if the sewage discharge is not contained immediately.
Given that the sewage manhole has been overflowing due to the reverse flow of sewage water for the last week, Margao municipal employees as well as visitors to the city have complained of foul odor in the area.
Citizens Find A Way To Abate The Nuisance
With the sewage chamber at the Margao Municipal building overflowing unabated for over a week and water accumulating on the pavement right in front of the shrine of Our Lady of Vailankani, citizens have found a convenient way to abate the nuisance by channelising the sewage water into an adjacent drain.
The action by the citizens has given temporary relief to the cobblers doing business on the MMC pavement as well as the visitors to the adjoining municipal library. Sources said the citizens channelised the sewage into the drain since it was accumulating and waterlogging the pavement, raising a stink and posing a nuisance to the visitors.
Last year too, the sewage chambers on the MMC pavement overflowed due to reverse flow of sewage from the underground sewage line. It was only after the matter was raised in the Legislative Assembly that the MMC barricaded the area to stop pedestrians from walking through the sewage.
