Osia units without sewerage connection to face action

MARGAO: Town and country planning minister Vijai Sardesai, on Wednesday, directed the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA) and Margao Municipal Council (MMC) to conduct an audit of the units occupied by traders in the Osia building of the SGPDA complex with regards to their sanitary situation.
Sardesai held a meeting with the officials of the SGPDA, MMC, directorate of health services, police, district administration and developer of the Osia complex over the unhygienic conditions prevailing in the SGPDA market complex.

Sardesai, speaking to reporters after the meeting, said while the developer has maintained that all units in the complex are connected to the sewerage network, official records indicate otherwise. "I have given a week's time to the PDA and the MMC to conduct an audit of the Osia complex that will provide information of the number of units functioning in the complex, how many of them have water and sewerage connections, following which necessary action will be taken. We will engage the services of the health department to undertake a campaign to create awareness about obtaining sewerage connections," Sardesai said.

Pointing out that the government has spent several crores building infrastructure and that subsidy is provided for sewerage connection charges, Sardesai said those failing to take connections will have to be penalized.

"The health department will write to the PWD and electricity department for disconnection of power and water supply," he said.

Expressing disgust over what he described as "completely unhygienic conditions" prevalent in the area, Sardesai said "there's utter lawlessness in the Osia complex; no rules are being followed."

During the inspection of the SGPDA complex on Tuesday, Sardesai had warned traders in the market against releasing sewage and waste water into the open and urged them to take sewerage connections for their units.