PANAJI
Both ruling and opposition MLAs on Wednesday raised concern over poor road conditions across the State leading to accidents and loss of life every day and demanded that quality control measures be put in place alleging sub-standard works undertaken by the contractors.
During the discussion on PWD demand, while some legislators, cutting across party lines hailed PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral’s swift action to take up various works, some highlighted the delay in taking up road-widening, lack of progress in various projects like construction and renovation of bridges, sewerage connectivity, drinking water supply scarcity and dilapidated condition of government buildings among others.
BJP MLA Michael Lobo said that road safety should be the utmost priority of the government. “Roads are tarred…hot-mixing is done but still we see a rise in the number of road accidents and related deaths. This is something to worry about,” he said.
Stating that the government needs to ensure safety on roads, Lobo pointed out that the authorities have failed to install signage, paint speed breakers and zebra crossings.
Pointing to the poor quality of work of the NH along Patradevi, the MLA said “even my SUV car shakes…this is the condition of the road”. He also demanded that the government immediately replace the barricades of the old bridges and culverts.
Revolutionary Goans Party MLA Viresh Borkar said the roads are filled with potholes and the material used to fill it washes off in one single shower. “Who is responsible…Minister, engineer or contractor? Every assembly we discuss it and then there are assurances but nothing happens. The situation is the same,” he said.
Borkar said that the Minister and PWD department needs to take responsibility for poor roads and rising number of accidents. He demanded a judicial inquiry into the road works.
AAP MLA Cruz Silva urged the government to ensure strict quality control as a lot of contractors are involved in sub-standard work resulting in bad to worse conditions of the road and subsequent accidents.
Congress MLA Carlos Ferreira highlighted how various agencies damage roads for laying pipelines but fail to restore it to its original condition.
“The government is not paying attention at all. Several projects are proposed but nothing is moving,” he said.
BJP MLA Alex Sequira questioned the need for imposing a high speed limit for roads near educational institutions while for bridges the limits are much lesser. He also said that the government needs to expedite the construction of Borim bridge which is in precarious condition.
