POINGUINIM: Twelve years after the Canacona flash floods, work finally began on Sunday at Monem in Cotigao of construction of two culverts which had been washed away in the 2009 floods.
The work has been taken up at a cost of Rs 60 lakh. The work was inaugurated by deputy speaker and Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes.
Cotigao sarpanch Umesh (Daya) Gaonkar said that in addition to this, construction of a protection wall near Gaondongrim’s Shri Mallikarjun temple has also been taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 13 lakh.
Gaonkar also urged the MLA to get government approval for two more culverts at Kuskem and Avem, “which need attention on a priority”.
The Cotigao sarpanch also put forth a proposal before Fernandes to get the government to sanction an irrigation project, a demand which has been pending for many years.
Fernandes, meanwhile, assured the locals that as and when the government has sufficient funds in its coffers, these pending works would be taken up.
Talpona locals, too, heaved a sigh of relief after their long-pending demand of a gutter and drainage was realized with the launch of the works Fernandes in the presence of Poinguinim sarpanch Jagdish Gaonkar.
The demand for the drainage system was pending for several years and villagers had to deal with rain water gushing into their houses at Talpona, a local pancha Rudresh Namshikar said.