According to a news report, the District Magistrate North Goa has banned excavation works on the highway from Zuari bridge Agacaim till hotel Taj Fort Aguada Candolim, Sinquerim in view of the visit of the Chief Justice and other dignataries, between March 26 to March 29. There can be no doubt that the dignitaries are entitled to a smooth ride on all the roads that they have to use.
However the million-dollar question that begs to be asked is, do the tax paying citizens of Goa not deserve the same safety and comfort through the year?
For the last three or more years, the drive from Cortalim to Panjim and beyond has, at times, being chaotic and a nightmare because of bad road conditions. Further, for the last months or so, the people of Vasco are facing a lot of difficulty because of the excavation of the one and only narrow road leading into Vasco town .
Admittedly this is an essential activity and the work is hampered by the heavy port bound traffic that uses this road day and night.
This heavy port bound traffic is forced to use this narrow road because the four- lane highway from Cortalim to the port which had been planned to be completed in 2001, and had been planned precisely for decongesting the narrow road leading into the town, seems to have been blocked for more than 20 years. There does not seem to be any date insight for the completion of the vital four-lane highway.
I am sure that the authorities, fully aware that this is the only narrow road that leads into the town, are doing their their best to complete the work at the earliest.
However the doubt still creeps into the mind of the suffering public whether more could have been done to minimise the inconvenience and dangers from poor road conditions and the dust pollution that prevails at present.
The public fervently hopes that the authorities, the PWD minister and the guardian ministers of the port town will personally intervene to monitor the progress of the work and ensure that it is completed at the earliest, so that the road can be repaired and restored by hot mixing well before the onset of the monsoons.
