PANAJI
The closure of the Bhatlem road stretch from the Ram Mandir to the SFX Chapel at Portais has had a cascading effect on the already stressed movement of traffic in the capital city due to the closure of several stretches of intra-city roads.
Being a road which skirts the city, the Bhatlem road is a convenient entry and exit for vehicle users whose destinations are towards the Taleigao side.
"Now everyone who either enters or exits the city are compelled to drive through the city which already has three main roads shut. We had great difficulty managing the traffic," a senior official attached to the Panaji traffic cell said.
Residents as well as visitors to Panaji meanwhile faced a harrowing time commuting in the city with impromptu traffic logjams occurring across the city.
The traffic cell official said closure of the MG Road at three major four-arm junctions -- Don Bosco, St Inez circle near Pharmacy College and Taj Vivanta -- has proved to be a major bottleneck for flow of traffic. The busy and frequently used central Panaji thoroughfare -- 18th June Road -- is being taken up for the 'smart city' related project of laying a sewerage line in the next couple of days or so.
"Alternate diversions are also not available as work is being carried out along those arterial roads as well. It puts pressure on the two-three available roads like 18th June Road and the peripheral DB Marg," the official said.
The Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL) has closed several stretches of road to lay pipes to connect the network of sewerage chambers it had built last year.
IPSCDL said it is also digging the roads to provide individual connections to buildings and also to build connecting ducts at strategic locations to connect the new sewage system to the existing one.
It has told the High Court which is hearing a PIL on the matter that some of the main roads in the city will be made motorable by January 20.
