PANAJI
Amid ‘Smart City’ works and recurring incidents of road cave-ins under the weight of heavy vehicles, North Goa Collector has banned the movement of such vehicles on 18 June Road between 10 pm and 7 am.
“Soil structure of the area in and around Panaji is sandy and loose in nature, therefore the soil tends to cave in and cavity is developed where any digging work is undertaken. The situation is mostly observed around Tonca and near the Printing Press area and due to the loose composition of soil, incidents of heavy vehicles getting stuck inside the trenches have been reported...” reads the order by Collector Manu Hage.
To avoid such incidents in the future, the district administration has directed the concerned agencies to restrict the movement of heavy vehicles only on 18 June Road between 10pm and 7am till the completion of the work.
The works, as a part of Smart City mission, are being carried out by various agencies such as Public Works Department (PWD), Goa State Urban Development Agency (GSUDA) and the Department of Water Resources, among others.
All the Panaji roads are currently dug with deep trenches for sewage work which has not only resulted in traffic chaos and dust pollution but road cave-ins too at different locations. The beautification and road repairs will be carried out after the monsoon season.
The authorities are also hurriedly completing works in certain main areas of Panaji in the wake of the G20 Summit slated this month.
In the first accident at St Inez on February 6, four workers were injured of whom one sustained critical head injuries when a truck laden with laterite stones fell in the trench.
