Motorists forced to navigate bumpy roads
PANAJI
Heavy rains over the last couple of days have left some crucial roads in the periphery of the capital city waterlogged and in several other areas pothole-ridden barely days after the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) had patched them up on Ganesh Chaturthi eve.
Rua de Ourem stretching from the Ponte de Linhares (Old Patto bridge) to the T-junction at Four Pillars is the worst hit. Massive potholes which were patched up by the CCP last week have opened up again, making life miserable for motorists.
Another section of roads that the rains have left in a complete mess is the one at the city’s KTC bus stand, which saw vehicles wading through knee-deep waters through the day.
In Campal, a stretch of road leading to a residential quarter on the southern side of the newly built football stadium, where formerly the ‘parade ground’ stood, has been reduced to a slushy mud road.
Elsewhere in Bhatlem too, the recent patchwork to fill up potholes has given way. The nearly one-kilometre stretch of road from the mosque at Bhatlem to the SFX Chapel at Portais is riddled with potholes at several locations.
This stretch of road had been left incomplete after the sewerage work executed there as part of the ‘smart city’ project.
Meanwhile, the city’s main streets including the 18th June Road remained unaffected by the continuous rainfall on Thursday-Friday, indicating that pre-monsoon work including desilting of the main underground drains which direct stormwater flowing from the Altinho hill into the Mandovi river has worked.
In past years, the 18th June Road often used to get flooded during the monsoons, especially when heavy rainfall coincided with the river’s high-tide hours.
CCP officials have said that the inclement weather is a hindrance to carrying out road repair work.
“If we do get a dry spell for a day or two, we will again deploy a workforce to patch up the potholes,” a senior official said.
