MAPUSA
The poor condition of roads in Mapusa speaks a lot about official indifference. Motorists and local residents have started venting their anger against the government and the local civic body for the sorry state of affairs of several roads in town.
People have also begun questioning the ability of the local MLA in getting crucial works done with the government. Besides the major district road (MDR) from the Mapusa church to the market which was in a very bad state and is only getting worse, several internal municipal roads are also in miserable condition.
Many of these roads are so bad that they are actually unmotorable.
Take this road in Khorlim near the Krishna Temple which has a series of large potholes one after the other.
The road has been in this bad state for the last couple of years. Several riders including women have had a fall on this poorly maintained road.
According to locals, several complaints were made to the municipality and the local councilor but to no avail.
“The municipality is aware of the miserable condition of the road but strangely they have shown no interest to repair the road. Isn’t it the job of the civic body to repair the internal roads which belong to them?” a Khorlim resident asked.
“Traffic police issue fines to people who do not obey traffic rules on roads. I think there has to be a system where the people can now impose fines against officials or the government for failing to repair roads,” said Manoj Azgaonkar, a resident of Khorlim.
The internal road adjacent to Costa’s residence in the heart of Mapusa is another stretch that is in very pitiable condition. Although it is not a regular road, the stretch becomes very convenient for two-wheeler riders during peak hours, especially to escape the traffic chaos at court junction.
The road is infested with deep and wide potholes after part of the road apparently got washed away during the heavy rains. “I don’t understand why our MLA does not focus on providing motorable roads. We are not asking for the moon. What a common man needs is good roads and regular power and water supply. If the government cannot provide us these basic needs then I think they have no right to remain in power,” said a resident of Altinho, Mapusa.
The major district road (MDR) from the Mapusa church to the market was in a very bad state for the last several years and has deteriorated further. People coming from Aldona, Moira and Bastora mostly use this road and have had to face the worst due to the bad condition of the road.
“It’s such a terrible stretch. Looks like the local MLA is not concerned about the common man. Why does it take so long a time to fix the road? Or are they waiting for the Lok Sabha elections to hotmix the road,” a resident from Moira asked.
The work to hotmix the road has already been tendered but due to underground cabling work it was kept pending. “All works of hotmixing will be taken up from next month onwards as the hotmixing plant starts in the first week of November,” a PWD engineer said, but refused to give commitment whether the MDR road will be taken up soon.
