CA Sunil Gonsalves- the ONLY Fearless Man Raising His Voice on ‘Arya Samaj Rd’ Civic Issues
Chartered Accountant Sunil Gonsalves, residing at “Symphony” on Arya Samaj Road, Mangaluru, and also a ardent reader of Mangalorean.com- is the ONLY Fearless Man Raising His Voice on civic issues arising on Arya Samaj Road, for the “BETTERMENT” of other residents on that stretch of the Road? But unfortunately, other residents of that area are reluctant to come forward and join in his efforts to STOP the CORRUPTION, NON-SYSTEMATIC PLANNING, WASTAGE OF RESOURCES, and NON-STANDARDIZE WORK, of MCC and other concerned Departments?
Mangaluru : He plays a ONE MAN show, when it comes to highlight any wrong doing by the officials of District Administration or Mangaluru City Corporation, in development Work/Planning on Arya Samaj Road. He is the ONLY Man on that road who is quick to call the concerned department when their workers screw up the footpath work, or drainage work or the reconstruction of road work. He is FIRST one to call Team Mangalorean from past so many years, to inform about any serious civic issue taking place on that stretch of the Road, which have resulted in solving 99% of the issues through our Website Impact. He is none other than Chartered Accountant Sunil Gonsalves, residing at “Symphony”on Arya Samaj Road, Mangaluru.
C A SUNIL GONSALVES
Like I have said it in the past, and will say it again that “DIGGING NEVER STOPS ON ARYA SAMAJ ROAD”? – and the residents living on this stretch of Arya Samaj Road, and those motorists and pedestrians who also take this road, will surely agree with this statement I made. It is indeed a sad situation while you look at this Road, which couple of years ago was fully refurbished with interlock bricks, and ever since then there has been constant digging of this road, ruining the interlocks- and the worst part is that, once the work is done, the contractors/laborers don’t fix the dug part to its original standards.
Now once again, the entire stretch of Arya Samaj Road has been dug again for drainage purpose- and while digging been done by the operators of the Earth-mover (JCB) without taking any preventive measures has cut the water pipes, cables, and whatever that was laid under this road. And when Mangaloreans have been facing a severe water crisis, and water rationing is in force, here we have these careless earth mover operators breaking the water pipe lines, and allowing the water to flow without giving a damn concern about it. And this morning Team Mangalorean noticed that water has been flowing since yesterday, and no one has rectified the broken pipe. And when such a thing called WATER is so precious and not to be wasted, and here we see our officials and their workers wasting water, for no reason.
Few days ago, when the present new manhole/drainage work was started Team Mangalorean had published an report ” They Dug the Road, Broke the Pipe, & Have let the Water Flow for Two Days? “, and following that report CS Sunil Gonsalves speaking to Team Mangalorean said, ” The Excavation work for the laying of the Under Ground Drainage started about a month back on the Bridge Road. Then it progressed into Arya Samaj Road. As per Rules the Authorities need to provide details of the project, contact details of the Contractor, Nodal officer for the project and other information, Intimation has to be given to the residents. None of this was done. The Interlock tiles laid about three years ago were mercilessly dug up using an excavator. Despite having informed the JCB Operator, Site supervisor almost 3 days in advance about the under ground 15KW Electricity cable, and instead of exploring for the cable using manual excavation, they used the machine and the cable was damaged”
“Upon requesting the contractor to arrange for replacement of the cable and service line or a generator facility, the contractor initially refused to replace the cable stating that during the Conduct of a Public Work, if private property is damaged the loss is to be borne by the owner of the Private property. Further they provided a service Line without intimating MESCOM and tampered with the seal of the Electricity Meter against the provisions of Section 135 of the Electricity Act 2003. This led me to file a complaint with the Kadri East Police Station on 23 April 2019. The matter was escalated to the DC, Director of Smart City Project, CMD of MESCOM on 29 April 2019, as no action was forthcoming from the Contractor. Finally on 7th May, a senior Official of the MCC visited me and assured that the cable would be replaced by Thursday 11th May. On 12th May the AE of MESCOM Mallikatte Subdivision called on me and the Seal was once again affixed on the Meter” added Sunil.
He further said, “Several cables and water supply lines have been cut, and quite a few joined and wrapped with insulation tape. Doing rain there is a possibility that rain water would enter into these cables resulting in tripping and short Circuit of the Transformer. In case the road is resurfaced with Concrete, the road would have to be dug up again. There was water rationing on, but several pipes are still leaking, like the one in front of Cream Caramel, where the Contractor has not been able to find out the source of the leakage. Also the Newly Constructed Chamber is already broken reflecting on the quality of the work. The dust is resulting in breathing problems and already the compound wall that was painted hardly five months ago has acquired the colour of the fine mud dust. In the event of rains the filled up trenches will definitely sink and there is every possibility of all the mud landing on the Kadri Main road!”.
Well said by Sunil Gonsalves, and so while the mess has been created by this project, traffic and pedestrians are facing the brunt of it. While the digging work is in progress, pedestrians are having a tough time to walk on the footpaths or cross the roads. There are interlock bricks scattered all over and dug up mud is blocking pedestrians movement. Pedestrians safety is in danger, since a proper walking space is not provided by the workers on this project. Pedestrians are seen walking on the loose interlock bricks and dirty mud, and chances are that they may slip or twist their ankles. But does anyone in the district administration care for the safety of the people. Why would they, because they know that no one will complain nor sue them for damages/compensation- and SURELY not the residents of Arya Samaj Road, other than Sunil Gonsalves?
While the City is facing water shortage, and citizens are finding a hard time to get the required water needed for consumption, and we witness the water wastage from this water pipe damaged by the workers. And last time prior to our earlier report, one of the resident living on this Road, who hardly gets water during the rationing done by the MCC, and fully frustrated said “Architect/Engineer Dharmaraj, and few other engineers/officials of Mangaluru City Corporation should be sacked for their poor planning and negligence towards the City and Citizens. While we are facing acute water shortage, and here we are seeing water being wasted”.
Also the pedestrians walking on this stretch are now a agitated lot and are left in jitters. This dilapidated portion of the road has left the residents wondering where the priorities of the MCC authorities are lying, and also the citizens are keeping their fingers crossed as to when the dug up road will will be fixed . Needless to say that the tall claims of the authorities prove hollow as the citizens continue to suffer – this dug up road needs to be fixed soon before any untoward incidents occur. The once beautifully laid interlocked Balmatta road is again in shambles. With every now and then, roads and footpaths being dug up, people are left with no space to walk, whenever a road project starts.
So, is there a solution? With constant digging up of this road, they have turned the area into a war-zone. Footpaths are broken, construction debris scattered here and there, pedestrians have to endlessly battle bulldozer, open drains and ditches, cement blocks and stones, no street lights and a never-ending stream of two wheelers, day and night. When there is a pit dug right in the middle of a road, life gets a little difficult for commuters. But what if the pit is not filled properly after the work is completed? At such times, it will be hazardous for the motorists.And that has been the condition of this road. Open manhole pits are left without a lid, so that someone could fall into it? The problem is that no one seems interested in flattening the road. With all the debris left behind and also that the dug up places are not restored properly, it seems quite dangerous for motorists and pedestrians to commute.
We all know that Mangalureans are quite reluctant in lodging complaints-that’s a reason we have so many civic problems that are not rectified, until it leads to a serious issue, like a serious injury or death. Wake up folks, complain to the concerned authorities if you notice something hazardous to human life. Yours Truly of Team Mangalorean and CS Sunil Gonsalves can’t always highlight such civic issues, you too can raise your voice in case you see civic issues that would create inconveniences to the public or kill someone. Wake up residents of Arya Samaj Road- raise your voices, and tell the officials to speed up the work, and do it right. It will be a big Mess once the monsoon start, so come forward right now and fight for the good cause, so that you wont suffer all the inconveniences later when rains down heavily.
Let’s all join hands and to make Mangaluru a safer place to move around and live safely. Only our constant complaints and pressure on our elected Netas/MCC Engineers/officials can solve the problems. If we keep quite, we are putting our own lives in danger moving around in the flunked “Smart City” with NO SMART OFFICIALS at the helm of it.
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