MARGAO
A fatal accident on the Western Bypass road on Friday night, which claimed the life of a pedestrian in a hit and run road accident, has reignited public concern over the lack of proper street lighting on the route. Motorists and citizens alike are now asking: How many days”or even months”will it take for PWD officials to get the contractor to fix the persistent illumination problems?
While officials from the Electricity Department have clarified that the Public Works Department (PWD) has not yet handed over the street lighting infrastructure to them, PWD officials maintain that the contractor is currently working to resolve the issue.
A senior PWD official, speaking to The Goan, explained that the department has not transferred the street lights on the Western Bypass to the Electricity Department, as the contractor remains responsible for addressing any faults that arise after installation.
“The PWD had planned to hand over the street lights to the Power Department after the monsoon season, once the system could be tested during the rains,” the official said. “At present, the contractor engaged by the PWD is liable for maintaining the street lighting along the bypass.”
The official added that the current outage stemmed from an earlier incident in which a vehicle crashed into a lamp post, causing damage to the entire line.
“The contractor is on the job to rectify the fault, which has left the bypass road in complete darkness,” he said, assuring that the issue would be resolved at the earliest.
Meanwhile, the Fatorda police has registered a case against unknown person under section 281,106(1) BNS & Section 134(a)(b) of MV Act following the death of a pedestrian, suspected to be a beggar.
Police said the incident had occurred on the western bypass Mungul overbridge when an unknown accused driver of an unknown vehicle, while proceeding from Margao towards Panaji drove his vehicle in rash & negligent manner and knocked down the male pedestrian, age about 35-40 years.
Police said the vehicle driver fled away without giving any medical aid as a result, the pedestrian sustained grievous injuries and died on the spot.
