Officials battle rain, limited machines as motorists fume ahead of Ganesh Chaturthi
MAPUSA
It’s that time of the year when potholes, crumbling stretches and crater-like roads dominate conversations across Goa.
Despite orders from the Public Works Department (PWD) to urgently fill up potholes within seven days, the relentless rains are proving to be a major hurdle, leaving motorists fuming and officials struggling to meet deadlines.
PWD Chief Engineer Subhash Belgaonkar recently directed Executive Engineers from Panaji, Margao, Mapusa, Bicholim, Ponda and Fatorda divisions to carry out urgent pothole repairs on top priority. He also made it clear that complaints uploaded on the PWD mobile app must be addressed before the Ganesh Chaturthi festival.
“The focus is to make the roads motorable at the earliest. Executive Engineers must ensure that pothole complaints are attended to without fail,” Belgaonkar’s order stated.
Potholes like ‘craters on moon’
The situation on the ground, however, is grim. The NH-66 stretch at Porvorim, dotted with gaping potholes, has been compared by commuters to “craters on the moon”.
Another busy stretch below the Panaji flyover, leading towards Merces junction, has become a daily nightmare for motorists, with water-filled potholes slowing down traffic and creating accident risks.
Similar scenes are visible across major district roads as well as internal village roads in both North and South Goa. Even the popular coastal belt – from Calangute to Colva – which sees heavy tourist traffic, has not been spared.
“We pay road tax every year, but every monsoon the roads collapse like this. Driving at night has become dangerous because you don’t even see the potholes until your tyre crashes into one,” said Rajesh Naik, a commuter from Porvorim.
Jet patchers too few, too slow
PWD engineers admit that repairing the potholes is proving to be a herculean task, not only due to the continuous rains but also due to limited resources.
Jet patcher machines – deployed to fill up large potholes – are in short supply, with only a couple available for the entire State.
“A jet patcher takes at least an hour to fix one big pothole, since the process involves cleaning, drying, pouring the mix and drying again. Covering such a huge area with just two machines is logistically very difficult,” a senior engineer explained.
Officials said that in cases where the roads fall under the defect liability period, contractors have been directed to take responsibility for repairs.
Anger spills online
Meanwhile, public frustration has spilled over onto social media. Memes, sarcastic videos and photographs of cratered roads are going viral, with many residents tagging ministers and PWD officials.
“Every year it’s the same story – patchwork during monsoon, fresh digging before Christmas and then again potholes by June. Why can’t the government plan ahead and do proper works before the rains?” asked activist Xencor Polgi from Vasco.
Calls for long-term planning
Former PWD engineers and civic experts have stressed the need for long-term planning instead of quick-fixes to the bad roads in the State.
“The government should finish all major road repairs at least two months before the monsoon. Even road digging works for utilities should be banned after March. Otherwise, we’ll keep seeing this cycle of potholes and patchwork every monsoon,” a retired PWD engineer observed.
With Ganesh Chaturthi around the corner and public anger growing, the spotlight is now firmly on whether the PWD can deliver on its promise to make roads motorable in time – or whether potholes will once again dominate festive season travel.
