As road accidents show an upward trend in Goa, the PWD is preparing to open tenders for road safety audit for district and village roads in the state, this 11 months after the CM had called for such a move. The proposed audit will cost Rs 6 crores and shall cover 1,134 km of major district roads and 4,430 km of village roads across the state. It is pertinent to note that 4 years ago an agency had carried out a safety audit of national and state highways in Goa but the PWD has still not corrected the defects in the report. The Centre's data shows that there has been an increase of 20% in the number of people killed in road accidents in 2022 as compared to 2021. Flawed highway engineering at the Karmal ghat area, Farmagudi and other places leads to needless accidents, poorly designed unmarked speedbreakers and rumble strips are the bane of vehicles especially at nights in the coastal belt. Ordering audits is all very fine but the moot point is that all such endeavours are an exercise in futility if no action is taken to set things right.
