Work to install traffic signals at busy court junction starts in Mapusa

At least four traffic signals have been installed at the key court junction which is expected to be operationalised within the next two or three days.

MAPUSA

Vehicular congestion at the busy court junction in Mapusa may soon be a thing of the past with the agency concerned starting installation of at least four traffic signals at the four-road intersection.

With five schools and a college and other crucial buildings like the court, municipal council and the district hospital in the vicinity, the court junction is one of the busiest intersections in Mapusa.

A traffic police official informed that the court junction witnesses heavy flow of traffic especially during the school hours in the morning and in the afternoon when schools end for the day.

He said with the absence of traffic signals the burden comes on the police to man the traffic especially during peak hours.

“We had requested the Mapusa civic body to install the signals at the earliest but for unforeseen reasons the work got held up,” the officer informed.

The agency Om Sahi Creations which has taken up the work, as part of corporate social responsibility, will be installing traffic signals at least at six to seven locations in Mapusa.

The contractor Aniket Naik informed that the agency has signed an agreement with the Mapusa Municipal Council to install the signals.

“We have been given six to seven locations – near Mapusa municipal council building, fish market, old municipality near Cremeux, Gandhi circle, near PWD office, Hutatma Circle etc – to install the traffic signals. We have already fixed the poles and despite the rains we are trying our best to get the work done as early as possible,” Naik said.

He said efforts were on to begin operations of the traffic signals at the court junction within a couple of days while other areas will be taken up next.

He further said the signals will initially function on a trial basis to understand the flow of vehicles.

“The traffic police will take a call on the span of seconds allotted for the signals based on the traffic density,” he said.

In absence of signals, managing traffic especially during the school hours was becoming a herculean task at the site.

According to Peter D’Sa, a resident of Mapusa, traffic mess was a daily issue at the crucial junction during peak hours.

“Vehicles from all four sides converge at the crossing and during school hours it becomes difficult for even three police to manage the traffic,” D’Sa said.