the goan I network
MARGAO
The South Goa District Road Safety Council on Thursday has recommended to the panchayat director and Director of Municipal Administration that elected members of panchayat and municipal bodies and the secretaries and chief officers respectively shall be held accountable if any death of a road user occurs because of an illegal kiosk or structure erected within the road widening areas.
The Council has also recommended initiation of criminal proceedings against the Executive Engineers, Assistant Engineers and Junior Engineers for road accidents arising out of erection of road dividers on roads whose width does not conform to the specifications.
The Council has also resolved to write to the educational institutions where students come to the institutions with two-wheelers sans driving licences. It has also been resolved to launch an awareness drive across the district in coming months, more so with the government notification on hike in fines for violations likely to come into force from next month.
The Council also deliberated on the potholed roads in the South Goa district jurisdiction with instructions being issued to the PWD, Roads for urgent repairs of the damaged roads.
The South Goa District Road Safety Council chaired by district Additional Collector, Prasanna Acharya took serious note of the illegal structures, including kiosks and houses coming up along roadsides and within the road setback area, causing accidents. After discussions, the Council resolved to send letters to the panchayat and municipal directors to enlighten the elected members of the panchayat and municipal bodies as well as the panchayat secretaries and the chief officers that they shall be made accountable for loss of life of the road users because of these illegal structures.
The faulty road dividers erected on several roads, especially along the four-lane Davorlim road was discussed at the meeting. The council later strongly recommended that road dividers shall be erected only if there is sufficient width on the road as per the specifications. The Council has further recommended immediate removal of the road dividers if there is no sufficient width for the movement of vehicles. Acharya called for holding the EEs, AEs and JEs accountable for any accidents taking place because of the faulty road dividers, including initiation of criminal proceedings against these officials.
Later briefing the media, Acharya said the Council discussed several road safety measures with the sole aim of reducing accidents and saving precious lives of the road users.
Council member, activist Lorna Fernandes drew attention of the members to the bad condition of roads in South Goa and the delay by the PWD to take up the repair work. She also highlighted the condition of the Margao flyover, which has been craving for attention, with steel rods on the road surface exposed to weather and rain and posing danger to the
motorists.
Failure to install new speed limit sign boards: Council takes cognizance
MARGAO: The South Goa District Road Safety Council on Thursday took cognizance of the report carried by The Goan on the failure of the National Highways to install new speed limit sign boards along the Polem-Cortalim stretch of the highway.
After the issue was raised by activist Lorna Fernandes, the Council has decided to ask the traffic police to get the old speed limit sign boards removed and to replace them with boards with the speed limits notified last year.
Lorna pointed out that while the sign boards with old speed limit continues to dot along the highway despite the fact that the government has notified the new speed limits last year, the traffic police challan the motorists for violation of the speed limit.
