Cops urged to hold power dept. officials responsible for any accidents

Ponda: Irked over road digging in Ponda just before the arrival of monsoon, the locals filed a police complaint against the Electricity Department on Thursday terming it illegal.

Social activists Viraj Sapre, Rocky Dias and John Mascarenhas have signed the complaint submitted to the police, and according to them the copy of the complaint has been also submitted to the South Goa Collector.

Sapre said that from May 16 to October 31, no road digging can be carried out as per the notification from the PWD’s executive engineer but despite that, the Electricity Department started road digging afresh in various parts of Ponda after May 15, which will be disastrous during the monsoon season, leading to several accidents.

Monsoon may start anytime from now and the road-digging at this moment may prove dangerous as it not just affects the traffic flow but makes the road slippery, said Rocky Dias.

They have questioned the urgency of road digging work for completing the underground cabling in Ponda, and have sought the Power Minister’s reply on the same.

The activists also stated that no supervision is done by PWD and Power Department engineers on road digging and due to that water pipelines suffer damage at several points and residents are left without water supply in the summer.