Building housing SMC under threat of collapsing

from NT NETWORK
Posted on 2009-06-26
BICHOLIM: The chairperson of Sanquelim Muncipal Council, Ms Sunita Verenkar informed that the SMC has decided to shift the municipality office from the present Samaj Mandir building, as the building could collapse anytime.
The PWD engineers have inspected the building and confirmed about the same. Cracks have developed in the walls and the condition of the roof is also bad, said Ms Verenkar.
In view of this, the SMC would shift the office at Salunke Complex located near Sanquelim KTC bus stand by next week. The shops on the ground floor of Samaj Mandir face the same problem and they (shop owners) have been made aware of the condition of the building, she further informed.
The chairperson informed the ‘The Navhind Times’ that the SMC has put up the proposal for a new building complex to the government and the approval is awaited.The estimated cost of the new complex is about Rs 10 crore.
Traffic congestion in Sanquelim has become the order of the day due to the narrow roads besides the rise in the number of vehicles, which make entry in the market area.
To sort out this problem, the SMC has put up a demand with the government to construct a bypass road from Karapur to KTC bus stand with a new bridge in place of the existing old steel and wooden bridge, Ms Verenkar said.
Speaking about the flood control measures at Sanquelim, the chairperson opined that the work should have started earlier and not just prior to
the monsoons.
Work to remove silt from Valvanti river could not be completed as pre-monsoon showers hit the state on June 1and 2, she pointed out adding the construction work of retaining wall, which would have minimised the gushing of flood water into market area, has been left incomplete.
So, the threat of flood due to overflowing of Valvanti river, which the Sanquelim residents have been facing all these years, still prevails, she observed.