VASCO
The Chicalim Panchayat gram sabha on Sunday resolved to write to the government to resolve the long-pending issues of Dabolim residents.
The meeting witnessed noisy scenes and heated moments over the closure of median along the four-lane highway near NSD depot some days back . Residents demanded that either the median be re-opened or a service road provided to cater to around 5000 residents of Dabolim who have to drive two kilometres extra till MES college junction to take a turn and come to the other side of the road. However, since the Sarpanch of Chicalim Seby Periera was not present at the gram sabha, Deputy Sarpanch Kamla Prasad Yadav assured that the panchayat will adopt a resolution to write to the government to resolve this and other issues of the residents of Dabolim.
Speaking to the media, Ayaz Shaikh, a resident of Dabolim, said it was time the local MLA Mauvin Mauvin Godinho and the CM Manohar Parrikar take up this issue as assured by them on an earlier occasion. “School buses do not come to the interiors as there is no service road. It is a total waste that a vehicle has to go two to three kilometres ahead to take a turn after the median opening was closed,” he said.
Another resident, Aniton Vales, said, “Ambulance and fire brigade arrive late as they have to travel three kms just to take a turn . By the time 108 ambulance arrives, the patients can die. Today fuel is so expensive and always rising. Why should we travel three kilomtres when we had an opening earmarked for us? We need an opening or an alternate service road or we will come on the roads,” said Vales.
Another resident Sanjay Mashelkar said that after the median was closed and people got together, they were informed that a direction was issued to the South Goa Collector and the CM had assured to resolve the issue in a month’s time.
“We don’t have faith anymore . It’s six months already. People, who are frustrated, have opened up several illegal median openings on the divider along the highway. This causes accident. We demand an opening on the highway for us or provide us a service road,” said Mashelkar.
