Residents & travellers who use this junction are in for hard times in the future, but the govt is least bothered
Despite heavy opposition, Tourism Department is going ahead with the work of the bus stand project at the side of the NIO colony on the road leading towards Apna Bazar. Objections have been raised not only by the residents of Dona Paula and staff of NIO but also by the Principal of Our Lady of Rosary High School, which is close by. This road is the only approach road to the school and joins the main Bambolim to Dona Paula highway on a steep slope. Several accidents have taken place at this junction. The location is just opposite Nelson Cabral’s bar and restaurant where the slope narrows suddenly.
The residents had a meeting long ago with Sanjit Rodrigues CCP Commissioner, RTO representative, then DySP superintendent of traffic Dharmesh Angle and the local architect to discuss possible solutions to solve the traffic nightmare. Since there have been many accidents at this slope, it was suggested to fix a circle at the junction where the roads converge to avoid further accidents and put up a proposal to widen the road.
Apart from regular traffic of vehicles and buses which come from Bambolim, buses carrying students to the school and NIO vehicles heading to the NIO colony create massive congestion in the morning and afternoon. At this junction a further complication arises due to the existence of a lane opposite, leading to the Bay View area.
The tourism project work is in progress now, where a bus stand for tourists is planned. At the side of this road, there are possibilities of gaddas coming up with tables to serve food like pani puri, pao bhaji, and cold drinks, similar to what is existing on the footpath at Miramar.
The residents can now see a new pathway coming up with steps descending towards the main road and parallel to it a road which has access to the bus stand. There are a number of heritage trees that will be chopped down after getting approval from the forest department and other authorities concerned.
This issue was discussed in general with an expert who pointed out that planning for roads should take into account traffic safety and security, level of service and accessibility, ease of orientation and clarity, participation and endorsement by locals, cost and effectiveness, economical use of resources, environment protection, aesthetic and street design and even preservation of historical landmarks (where relevant). This current exercise seems to fail on most of the important and essential considerations.
The photos taken on January 19, 2021, show a very tricky plan which may aggravate the congestion on this stretch of road. Far from participation and endorsement by locals, there is opposition as they foresee disaster. Nothing has been done so far to allay their fears. So far, we the residents in the area are clueless about whether there are any other plans to relieve the traffic congestion here which the junction is supposed to alleviate and moreover whether stormwater drainage is adequate to carry the load of rainwater during monsoon.
To add to the misery of the residents, there is an illegal construction of an eight-storey building going in the lane mentioned above that leads to the Bay View area. This project is coming up at high speed and it is alleged another two floors are being added. Residents will have to face heavy traffic congestion once this project comes. The most illegal part is his project is facilitated by a 4.5 metres wide road. The construction was given the nod after the road in question was shown as 10 mtrs wide. This is a blatant lie and the authorities have been made aware of this.
What is the plight of the residents when their voices are not heard by the government? Some of them are planning to shift their residences because of this traffic congestion which will be further aggravated after the tourism project come up. Worse still, more accidents will take place causing people to lose their lives and limbs. Already one of the NIO staff members’ wife had to replace her leg ball joint due to an accident.
It appears the building will have a restaurant, a swimming pool and staff from Casinos will be housed there within 450 metres construction area. What is not there is provision for adequate parking in the basement. It appears this project proponents are depending on the parking slots at the aforementioned tourism project for which they will have to cross the junction leading to an even further increase in the congestion at the junction.
The residents are in for hard times in the future and the government is least bothered to help.
(The writer is a social activist)
