Come November, the common citizens of Goa were holding on to a faint hope against Chief Minister Pramod Sawant's assurance that potholes will not be visible on the roads anymore. November began with a majority of the potholes yet to be filled, while patchwork was being undertaken on a war footing. On November 2, PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar stated that 80 percent of the potholes in the State were covered.
While potholes and poor condition of roads have left a 'crater' into the development plank of the PWD minister, Union Minister for Road, Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari, who is on a visit to the State, maintained that the quality of road works in Goa is good. He reiterated action against erring contractors who are responsible for substandard work. We also learn that highway road building contractor firm M Venkat Rao Infra Project Pvt. Ltd has been warned over the poor quality of road construction. However, this can’t be the moral of the story.
There has to be accountability. Dubious contractors cannot get away with mere warnings. It is time governments walk their talk and penalise those engaging in substandard work. This will not only win public confidence but will also dispel doubts of middlemen and the infamous commission system that is suspected to be adversely affecting the quality of contracts.
An announcement of Rs 1,250 crore worth of road works is welcome, but with major roads crumbling within six months and potholes putting lives at risk, new road infrastructure will not offset the damage caused. There has to be a thorough quality check besides assessment of works undertaken.
Secondly, periodic deadlines given by the PWD Minister and Chief Minister to restore roads have not been met, including the recent one of October-end. We fail to understand the basis on which the PWD minister quantifies 80 percent completion when major roads are yet to be repaired, leave alone the haphazard and uneven road-filling which continue to discomfort motorists. It appears that the department is racing against time only to salvage itself from a situation that is going to unsettle an election campaign. If we may recall, the pathetic condition of the road has been an issue that is taken up by all political parties and endorsed by ordinary citizens.
Ironically, while haphazard and unauthorized road digging has gone unchecked, a recent case in Taleigao has exposed how callous the PWD is over road maintenance. A contractor was found to be digging into a freshly tarred road in Taleigao under the cover of the night. The contractor claims that he has been verbally authorized by the PWD official to fix the water pipeline because they had no manpower available.
Potholed roads have been haunting citizens across the State for the last few decades, and they are only getting worse. The PWD minister has pressed the panic button and has undertaken a random patch-up job. Pauskar may be trying to give a late reassurance, but he must bear in mind that sooner or later people will judge him for this road test.
