PANAJI
It takes 30-35 minutes to reach Verna, around the same time as Ponda, and about an hour to reach the interiors of Salcete taluka in Guirdolim village. No matter what the distance covered from Panaji, the travel time is not as harrowing as it is for the commuters to move around in the city.
The government agencies, undertaking simultaneous repairs and developmental works have spared no road to be dug. A short drive from Taleigao to St Inez that usually takes around 10-12 minutes now stretches to not less than 25 minutes. Similarly, driving from Campal to Panaji bus stand takes around 30-40 minutes; thanks to the ongoing work to make the city ‘Smart.’
The contractors have razed the entire road, both up and down lanes, at the same time bringing the traffic to a standstill. Despite an objection from the Traffic Police, the authorities took up the work of hot-mixing the D B Marg this week, which ultimately aggravated the woes of the commuters.
Several netizens are complaining that their routine life has been affected as a lot of time is wasted in traffic jams on a daily basis.
“Panjim is having mad traffic today. Took nearly 55 minutes to drive from Miramar to Patto,” one of the commuters Vaishnavi said on her social media post, on Monday. In reply to her post, another Twitterati claimed the time was “actually less” indicating the travel time has increased.
Assistant Professor of Hindi at Goa University Aditya Bhangui, who has been active on social media highlighting civic issues, calculated the current time travelling within the city. “St Inez to Panaji = 45 minutes. Panaji to Ponda = 35 minutes,” he said.
Besides regular commuters complaining of having to endure snarls and slow-moving traffic, the residents are also fuming with anger at the delay in completing the work. “We experience this kind of traffic jams near my house during narkasur night. So what is the occasion today? The occasion is our city is becoming smart where all the smart people are only digging up roads and not doing anything about filling the pits back. The work which should be done overnight is taking months. There is no one to manage the traffic where the digging is happening,” Bhatulem resident Advay Madkaikar said.
The endless activity has also shrouded the city with a blanket of dust as not the residents and commuters only, but business establishments and eateries/restaurants are facing the brunt too.
For Panaji MLA Atanasio Monserrate, locals are not complaining about the inconvenience. “People should realize that we are doing it for them. Common people have no issues but there are certain elements that are having a problem. If you want better infrastructure and development, you should have patience,” he said. On Tuesday, being a public holiday, the traffic volume was comparatively less.
