PANAJI
Roads dug up in several locales across the city for the ‘Smart City’ works and the heavy showers that lashed the State on Tuesday-Wednesday became the perfect recipe for the chaos the capital city of Panaji went through for several hours on Wednesday.
Almost every thoroughfare street of the capital city, including the MG Road, 18th June Road and the
Atmaram Borkar road besides the entire Ribandar, was choc-o-block with traffic, especially in the 11 am to 2 pm and 5-7.30 pm busy hours of Wednesday.
Absent in the action, however, were the authorities. Neither the civic authorities nor the personnel of the Panaji traffic cell were anywhere to be seen as motorists suffered long waits in the traffic snarls amidst a Diwali shopping crowd.
Elsewhere along the Dayanand Bandodkar Marg, traffic movement was hampered as has been the cases for several days now due to the Campal games village venue for the National Games.
Officials of the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Ltd (IPSCDL) under whose aegis the contractors are executing the ‘smart city’ work did not take calls.
Potholes and deep depressions across the city due to the hasty and hap-hazard resurfacing of roads carried out in June on the eve of the monsoon after the first phase of smart city work execution, added to the woes of motorists.
Meanwhile, the spell of heavy rains on Tuesday-Wednesday threw into disarray the preparatory work of several neighbourhood youth groups building giant-sized narkasur effigies which are slated to be burnt on Diwali eve. Several narkasur competitions are traditionally held on this day across the State and Panaji-Taleigao is no exception.
Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Office has predicted such showers until November 11, the day the narkasur effigies are burnt to signify victory of good over evil.
