Just at a time when traffic along the roads leading to Zuari bridge appeared to be easing, Guirim in North Goa turned chaotic throwing motorists off gear. A section of the road along the highway has been reduced to a single lane to carry out expansion work leading to long queues of vehicles almost gridlocked along the stretch from Dempo showroom to Hotel Green Park.
When traffic from four lanes moves to a single lane, there is bound to be a bottleneck resulting in piling up of vehicles. The insensitivity to motorists during the peak season is visible because works are undertaken when Goa is amid festivity. The time is not right for such drills, and even if the traffic police have given its go ahead, it’s a sad irony that nobody spared a thought to the misery and hardships that is being inflicted on ordinary citizens.
The countdown for the Christmas has already begun, and it’s only going to get worse from here. It affects ordinary citizens and tourists because December 24 to January 1 is a phase where there is an extremely high traffic movement along the roads. Moreover, tourists from all around India and abroad are going to pile up for the forthcoming EDM festival. A record 50,000 crowd is expected to transverse this road for the music fest. How is the government machinery going to ensure order? The traffic police are not in a position to defuse the situation because the road narrows down and hence they can only be silent bystanders.
The PWD and other authorities have to be conscious of the ground realities and factor in situations before undertaking jobs. Road digging has been going throughout the year, including festive seasons. Panaji has been a witness to haphazard road-digging and every time the blame has come on smart city works. The Corporation of the City of Panaji had assured that there would be no road-digging for three years once the roads are hot mixed. A message to that effect was conveyed to the PWD, sewage and infrastructure development corporation and other agencies involved in networking. Margao too has been witness to road-digging even in festive seasons in the past.
Successive assurances have been an eyewash and roads continue to be dug at various places in the city, throwing motorists into all sorts of inconvenience. Also, contractors have been so careless that excavated portions of roads are seldom restored to their original condition because there is a lack of supervision.
Government and authorities need to plan out road works so that there is not much impact on the people. The infamous traffic jams have not only scared Goa as a tourism destination but have put locals in medical emergencies at risk. Development is needed, but not at the cost of putting people at hardships.
