MAPUSA
The Parra madani road was in the news for all the wrong reasons after a tourist driving a rent-a-car (Thar jeep) knocked down a school child riding a cycle on the picturesque road.
The driver identified as Prashant Harwal of Bijapur, Karnataka has been arrested.
The 12-year-old boy Ritesh Kanojiya of Parra who has been injured in the mishap has been admitted in the North Goa District Hospital in Mapusa.
According to Mapusa police, the driver and the cyclist were moving in the same direction from Anjuna to Parra when the Thar jeep first knocked the boy down and later went off the road and toppled on its side.
Mapusa Police has registered a motor vehicle accident case.
The accident has brought into sharp focus the chaos created by the tourists along the picturesque Parra madani road.
In a bid to click selfies and create videos along the popular road stretch, the tourists who come in rented two-wheelers and cars create traffic jams and block access for daily commuters using the road.
The Parra panchayat has been charging parking and garbage fees from the tourists who visit the road but no efforts have been made to regulate traffic and parking along the road.
The road is a must-visit spot in the itinerary of Indian tourists who visit Goa.
Incidentally, the Parra madani road was made popular by the Bollywood flick ‘Dear Zindagi’.
