OLD GOA
Residents of Chimbel have threatened to block the bypass road at the Chimbel junction if work on the flyover does not start immediately.
The warning was issued after locals held a candlelit march on Saturday, to protest against the death of another local, Deu Mardolkar, on Friday morning.
Earlier on May 25, another local, Venkatesh Karapurkar, had also lost his life when a truck ran over him at the junction.
The locals began the candlelit march at the panchayat and proceeded towards the Chimbel junction, where a meeting took place.
Speakers lambasted government authorities for their lethargic approach towards the work on the flyover.
Speaking on the occasion, a local Ajay Kholkar highlighted how three major incidents occurred at the junction, in which three lives were lost.
“Whenever such fatal accidents happened, authorities initiated action for a short while and then everything went back to square one. But this time around, we are not going to keep quiet and will continue the movement till the work on the flyover is started,” said Kholkar.
He informed that under Article 21 of the Constitution, it is the responsibility of the government to protect the life of citizens.
Local panch Sandesh Chopdekar said such incidents have been happening on a regular basis.
“Authorities had given us assurance that work on the flyover would start by September but to date, nothing is happening,” Chopdekar said.
“This is only a peaceful protest. We are warning the government that henceforth the protest will not be peaceful and locals will block the road if concrete action on the flyover is not taken,” Chopdekar warned.
Another local, Sanjana Chopdekar, sought to know why the government cannot build a small flyover when it can build big projects overnight.
“When the fatal accident occurred in May, we were assured that work would start in two months. Why are you fooling the people?” she further questioned while stating that blocking the road will be the only option left with the people if the work on the flyover does not start at the earliest.
Kunal Karapurkar, who lost his father Venkatesh in the fatal accident at the junction on May 25, said the government had promised that work on the flyover would start immediately.
“But to date, nothing has happened, which shows that the government fooled the people. Now, I request the government to start the work so that more lives are not lost,” he added.
Local Alfred Fernandes said till the completion of the flyover, traffic police should be posted at the junction round the clock to prevent such fatal mishaps from taking place.
Former Santa Cruz MLA Victor Gonsalves, activist Ana Gracias, and others also spoke on the occasion.
