TALE OF WOE: A view of the highly dilapidated road in Mapusa. Captured by : Agnelo Pereira
MAPUSA
Most of the Mapusa roads are largely in good condition but there is this one PWD road that spoils the image of the town and has motorists and commuters fuming.
The main road from the new Tar Bridge up to the market has completely worn out and in some places developed huge potholes, making life difficult for the locals, particularly for motorists who use the stretch.
And when it rains, it’s horrible, to say the least.
Much was expected of the Public Works Department’s (PWD) new machine to take care of the potholes but the much-fancied jet patcher is yet to arrive in Mapusa.
“It is very difficult to navigate through this pothole-ridden road. During rains, it’s worse as we cannot identify the potholes. Our tyres get worn out besides the untold toll it takes on our vehicles,” said Sunil Hadfadkar, an autorickshaw driver.
A distance of almost 1 km of the road is totally in bad condition making driving risky for those using the stretch.
“Since my son studies in a school in Mapusa, I have to pass through this uneven road every day. It becomes very stressful to navigate through this poor road, which has been in bad condition for more than a year now,” said Cajetan Azavedo of Nachinola.
The councillor representing the ward in Mapusa Municipal Council, Prakash Bhivshet, agreed that the road was in very bad condition. He also said through his personal initiative, he had patched up many of the potholes with rubble during the Chaturthi, which soon got washed away in rain.
“I know people are very upset and they have full right to express their anger even if it’s levelled against me because the road condition is such. I was promised that the roadwork would be taken up soon after the completion of the new Tar bridge, but sadly it did not happen,” Bhivshet said.
According to Assistant Engineer of PWD (roads) Mahesh Shetty, the work for hotmixing of the road has already been tendered and was waiting for expenditure sanction.
“It is before the government for expenditure sanction and even if it comes within the next 15 days, we can initially take up repair work of the road with full grout. The hotmixing can be done after the monsoon,” Shetty said.
He said the jet patcher machine never arrived in Mapusa although all protocols were followed.
“We had uploaded the photographs somewhere in July. But the machine never came to us. During the Chaturthi, we patched it up with rubble. We cannot take up any more work because it is already tendered,” he said.
The main road from the new Tar Bridge up to the market has completely worn out and in some places developed huge potholes, making life difficult for the locals, particularly for motorists who use the stretch.
And when it rains, it’s horrible, to say the least.
Much was expected of the Public Works Department’s (PWD) new machine to take care of the potholes but the much-fancied jet patcher is yet to arrive in Mapusa.
“It is very difficult to navigate through this pothole-ridden road. During rains, it’s worse as we cannot identify the potholes. Our tyres get worn out besides the untold toll it takes on our vehicles,” said Sunil Hadfadkar, an autorickshaw driver.
A distance of almost 1 km of the road is totally in bad condition making driving risky for those using the stretch.
“Since my son studies in a school in Mapusa, I have to pass through this uneven road every day. It becomes very stressful to navigate through this poor road, which has been in bad condition for more than a year now,” said Cajetan Azavedo of Nachinola.
The councillor representing the ward in Mapusa Municipal Council, Prakash Bhivshet, agreed that the road was in very bad condition. He also said through his personal initiative, he had patched up many of the potholes with rubble during the Chaturthi, which soon got washed away in rain.
“I know people are very upset and they have full right to express their anger even if it’s levelled against me because the road condition is such. I was promised that the roadwork would be taken up soon after the completion of the new Tar bridge, but sadly it did not happen,” Bhivshet said.
According to Assistant Engineer of PWD (roads) Mahesh Shetty, the work for hotmixing of the road has already been tendered and was waiting for expenditure sanction.
“It is before the government for expenditure sanction and even if it comes within the next 15 days, we can initially take up repair work of the road with full grout. The hotmixing can be done after the monsoon,” Shetty said.
He said the jet patcher machine never arrived in Mapusa although all protocols were followed.
“We had uploaded the photographs somewhere in July. But the machine never came to us. During the Chaturthi, we patched it up with rubble. We cannot take up any more work because it is already tendered,” he said.
