Ceiling collapse at Mapusa electricity office; staff safe

Panaji: A portion of concrete in the ceiling of the Goa electricity department office in Mapusa collapsed, and employees were unharmed. The building, inaugurated in Nov 1986, had been declared unsafe after PWD assessed its stability a few years ago.

Executive engineer at Mapusa, Subhash Parsekar, said that a portion of the false ceiling’s concrete fell, and govt has already decided to shift out of the building. The offices will move out by April/May before the monsoon.

“For the past 3–6 months, we have tried to find a new space to move out. We have identified two places—the BSNL building and the Mapusa municipality’s new building. The quotation is very high for the BSNL building, while the municipality is ready to give us their building,” Parsekar said.

“A third solution is that we are constructing a new ground-plus-three building at the Mapusa housing board on our own land. The offices of Division VI and XVII, and the civil work and canteen, will relocate there with car parking facilities. Work has already started, but it will take at least 2-3 years. As a stop-gap arrangement, we are trying to shift to the municipality building or the BSNL building, ” he said.

“With each passing day, the building continues to weaken, forcing employees to work under constant fear that the remaining slab may also give way. This situation is a serious threat to their lives. Govt must treat this matter seriously and act fast to prevent any untoward incident,” said leader of the opposition, Yuri Alemao, on Tuesday, adding that staff should be shifted to an alternative location to ensure continuity of work without risk.

Alemao also demanded a structural audit of all govt buildings. “Even schools in the state are not safe. Structural audits were not conducted in several talukas, and in some cases, schools were declared unsafe only after inspection. This raises serious questions about govt’s approach to public safety,” he said.