MAPUSA
Three months after Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar visited Mapusa and in one of his several directions had ordered repair of the lift in the sub-registrar building, the lift is yet to be fixed.
It is learnt that the wait for the lift to be made operational will take longer time but file compactors will be installed in the office by end of this month.
Senior citizens will have to continue the grind of climbing the cumbersome stairs to reach the sub-registrar office, as the lift to the building is irreparable and Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) will take at least another three months to replace it with a new one.
"The existing lift is outdated and cannot be repaired. We have to replace the lift with a new one. Work order has been issued. Within three months, the lift will come," said Jude Cardozo, Manager Engineering, GSIDC.
However, GSIDC will install file compactors in the sub-registrar office to overcome shortage of space by January 31.
"In addition to the lift, we will also install file compactors in the Mapusa sub-registrar's office. A separate tender was issued on that and 85 percent of the material is already come. By January 31, the file compactors will be in place," he said.
It may be recalled that the chief minister on his visit to Mapusa on October 3, last year, visited the Sub-Registrar's office and took serious note of the inconvenience faced by the public and issued directions to take immediate remedial measures to repair the lift.
On the very next day of the CM's visit (October 4), Additional Collector III, Surendra Naik issued an order directing the GSIDC MD to immediately take up repair work of the lift in public interest.
The order had further directed GSIDC to make the lift fully operational for public use preferably within a period of two months.
The only lift in the building had broken down and was not functioning for the last seven years, making it very difficult for the elderly and the disabled to approach the Sub-Registrar office.
The issue of the condition of Sub-Registrar's office came up for discussion during the monsoon session of the State Assembly in July last year.
Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had assured the House that prominent government offices, such as the Mapusa Sub-Registrar, which was regularly used by the public, would be shifted to the ground floor to facilitate easy access.
Aldona MLA, Glen Ticlo had raised the issue of the Mapusa Sub-Registrar office in the Assembly.
