— Sensors water dispensers work only if there is electricity. What happens if the power goes off while in the washroom?
— Only 30 toilets for 5000 labourers, how do they manage – in the open.
— CM says Goa is Open Defecation Free
— Rs 38 cr Jetty at Cutbona has “No” Carrying Capacity for Trucks?
— Health rooms for testing labourers never opened
— Team Goemkarponn lands at Cutbona to find out the reasons for the sudden deaths of 5 labourers (numbers could be much more) recently.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
CUTBONA: Strange but true, the 5000-odd labourers labourers working at 320 trawlers at Cutbona jetty have just 20 toilets and a few bathrooms.
The result was open defecation and taking baths on trawlers.
This could be one of the major reasons for the death of several labourers at Cutbona Jetty.
Team Goemkarponn landed at Cutbona to find out the reasons for the sudden deaths of 5 labourers (numbers could be much more) recently.
AAP’s Velim MLA Cruz Silva under whose constituency this jetty comes from, says during bad weather when the trawlers are anchored at the jetty, the situation is unimaginable.
“Several times I have taken up this issue in the Assembly and to teh Chief Minister but have been met with only empty promises,” he says.
Further inquiries reveal there are 20 Sulabh Souchalaya toilets and 12 newly built sensor toilets.
Labourers say these toilets and bathrooms constructed by the GTDC remain unutilised.
“These toilets need electricity for dispensing water. If the electricity goes off when we answer teh nature’s call what will happen? There would be no water coming from spray or taps,” labourers said.
They asked “|why were sensor toilets needed? Why don’t they simply put overhead water tanks?”
The labourers say there is a heavy rush here whenever there are bad weather conditions and they are forced to go out in the open.
Solar panels not working…
The government has also put up solar panels for street lights but they have become junk and as such there are no street lights at night, labourers say.
Deaths of labourers…
MLA Cruz says the main reason for the deaths was non-maintenance of hygiene and shortage of toilets.
“I have been promised 50 toilets and sewage treatment plants but there has been no tender as yet. The promises are only on paper,” he says.
Cruz said the deaths were due to the parked trawlers which have become breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
“Fisheries department has increased the fine from Rs 5000 to now Rs 1 lakh which is a good move,” he says.
Further, he said there are no health check-ups of these labourers who stay out of shore for weeks.
“It is being said the labourers who went out before August 1 were stranded in Karwar due to bad weather, where they met some labourers from Chattisgarh, who were already suffering from Cholera and diarrhoea. So when they returned on August 1, the sickness was spread here,” he stated.
No health check-up
Enquiries reveal that there are no health check-ups on workers when they return after staying out weeks together.
There are two rooms for health check but they have been closed and never opened.
“These rooms are of no use. Even when we get small sickness, we have to go elsewhere for check-ups,” said labourers.
Rs 38 cr jetty remains unutilised…
Can you imagine this, after having spent Rs 38 cr for a new jetty and its completion five years ago, it still remains unutilised as such it is now being used for storing boxing and unused boats and nets.
This is the sorry state of affairs at the Cutbona Jetty in South Goa wherein many labourers have lost their lives due to Cholera, diarrhoea and Dengue.
While the inauguration of the new jetty does not seem to have any link with the deaths of the labourers it brings to fore the lethargic approach of the government departments.
The Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) now blames the West Bengal Fisheries Development Corporation, the consultant appointed by the Government of India to prepare the Detailed Project Report (DPR), for the issues surrounding the construction of the 222-metre-long jetty at Cutbona.
They claim to have followed all the specifications in the design of the jetty, including the exclusion of vehicles from entering the jetty.
Originally planned to be 30 meters wide, the proposed jetty faced opposition from the local community, alleging that it was intended for coal handling and hosting casino boats.
Consequently, the width was reduced to 11 meters. However, the jetty has not served its purpose for the past five years, as the Fisheries department has barricaded it with a wall, preventing the loading of fish and turning it into a storage area for old boats and fishing equipment.
This raises serious concerns about the Rs 11-crore project, as it has failed to fulfil its intended objective and has become a burden on taxpayers. The 222-metre-long jetty, meant to benefit boat owners, now hosts 46 old and unused vessels, highlighting the mismanagement of public funds.
Boat owners say the 222-metre-long jetty has not helped them in any way in the last five years. “We are not allowed to take six-wheel vehicles on the new jetty to load fish from the vessels docked at the jetty. They have put a barrier, barring us from using the jetty,” remarked boat owner Sebastian Cardozo.
FISHERIES MINISTER REPLIES
Fisheries Minister Nilkant Halarnkar has claimed that the pandemic at Cutbona jetty was carried by labourers from outside the state, when they joined the work on August 1.
Halarnkar said the labourers arrived on the jetty on August 1 after which there was a spread. He said that the spread started on August 5, when the labourers arrived on the jetty.
The minister said that the state government has been working to clean up the entire jetty. He said that the scrapped boats which are piled on the jetty will be cleared.
Sebestiao Cardozo, representing the Boat Owners Association, voiced concerns that the new jetty remains non-operational due to inadequate facilities for six-wheeler vehicles. “The new jetty will be of no use if provisions for accommodating six-wheeler vehicles are not made,” he stated. A joint inspection at Cutbona jetty is scheduled for September 18 at 4 pm, with officials from all relevant departments required to attend.
