Three years on, Bicholim bus stand still a work in progress

MAPUSA
Nearly three years after construction began, the Bicholim bus-stand remains unfinished, triggering fear, anxiety and growing public anger, Bicholim MLA Chandrakant Shetye told the Goa Legislative Assembly during Zero Hour on Friday.
Shetye said the project, which commenced in April 2022, was promised to be completed within two years as per the work order.
Trusting the assurance, he said no design changes were sought and full cooperation was extended to the executing department.
However, progress has been painfully slow, with work even coming to a standstill for several months.
Despite repeated questions raised in the Assembly in 2023, multiple Zero Hour interventions and joint inspections, the project has reached only about 70 per cent completion, with major work still pending in its third year.
“These are not luxury projects. This is a basic public facility that people depend on every day,” Shetye said, accusing the department of lethargy and lack of urgency.
The delay has taken a heavy toll on residents. Commuters are forced to wait under tin-sheet shelters in scorching heat and heavy rain, shopkeepers run their businesses from cramped, makeshift stalls under extreme conditions, and students, daily passengers and bus operators continue to suffer without proper infrastructure.
Shetye urged the government to immediately deploy additional manpower and speed up construction to end the ordeal of the people who placed their trust in the government.
Responding to the issue, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant admitted the delay in the project and assured the House that the Bicholim Bus Stand would be completed within the next four months.
For the people of Bicholim, however, patience is wearing thin as a project meant to serve them has instead become a symbol of delay and neglect.