Apart from power and water availability, roads are the most basic infrastructure for industrial as well as residential consumers. Good roads may be a basic need, but, a number of industrial estates in Goa are struggling with roads, which have potholes and narrow width.
Damodar Kochkar, president, Verna Industrial Estate Association, explained the predicament industries are facing due to bad roads.
He said, “The main road passing through Verna Industrial Estate is actually a part of a national highway (NH). This road has been badly damaged during the monsoons, as you can see so many potholes on it. Since it is a part of NH, it is the responsibility of Public-Works-Department (PWD) and not Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) to repair it. This job was allotted to a contractor, who just did the patch-work and the road is still very rough. Now, the government is connecting NH-17 A to NH- 4 and the stretch of road going across Verna Industrial Estate (which has patch-work) is a part of it. The work of connecting these two highways will take two years and the industry can’t wait that long.”
In short, there appears to be no efficient mechanism to repair the potholes. This is not a new story, as not only industrial roads but roads in other parts of Goa have suffered the same fate. Ideally speaking, the job to repair the potholes should be of the contractor, who had originally built the road.
Kochkar continued, “The issue of repairing potholes is a very complex one. I think PWD has to float a fresh tender to repair every pothole. The problem with the road is a very serious one, as there is no tar on the road left. Either the PWD should have provisions in their contract itself clearly stipulating how potholes should be repaired. Or, they should go after the erring contractors and tell them to do the patch work.”
The government’s solution that the stretch of road going through Verna Industrial Estate (which has patch work) will get repaired when NH-17 A gets connected to NH- 4 isn’t the best one. For one, it will take too long. And two, not every road can be repaired in this way. The responsibility to repair the potholes must be placed on the contractor.
Verna Industrial Estate is not the only one facing such issues, as even Corlim Industrial Estate is struggling with bad approaching road for years now. Ganesh Shenoy, president, Corlim Industrial Estate Association, said, “The approach road for our industrial estate has so many potholes and it has remained like this for a long time now. I think the last time tarring was done here was 3-4 years ago. Our other major problem is that GIDC has given permission to use industrial estate road to a residential complex, which is adjacent to our industrial estate.”
As it is roads within Corlim Industrial Estate are narrow. With residents using it for their day-to-day commute it leaves even lesser space for industries to ply their vehicles. Moreover, the nature of vehicular traffic for industrial and residential use is totally different. If residents use narrow roads on which trucks are already plying, they are only exposing themselves to the risk of meeting with an accident.
When asked how huge trucks coming to Corlim Industrial Estate manage on an approach road, which has so many potholes, Shenoy replied, “They manage it somehow.”
It is exasperating for industries that roads inside the industrial estate have to wait for years for getting tarring done.
Sohan Kelekar, president, Madkaim Industrial Estate Association, said, “The roads inside Madkaim Industrial Estate need tarring. I think the last time tarring was done was 7-8 years ago. It does inconvenience us to an extent that tarring is not done and as a result there are potholes on the roads inside. It is the responsibility of GIDC to do tarring of these roads. They have to do it before rains.”
Just as Corlim Industrial Estate, many other industrial areas of Goa are also facing the issue of narrow roads. These industrial estates were built decades ago when there were hardly any vehicles on the road. Over the years, the number of trucks and vehicles has gone up exponentially. Moreover, the trucks are getting bigger and bigger and they have nowhere else to ply on but these narrow roads.
Darshan Vani, owner Vaibhav Times in Mapusa Industrial Estate, said, “Inside our industrial estates, roads are very narrow. This industrial estate was built sometime in the early 1970s. At that time, there were fewer trucks and they were of smaller size. Now, the number and type of trucks has changed significantly.”
Vani continued, “The other issue is that there is no designated place for parking of these trucks in the industrial estate. As a result, people park these trucks along the roads itself. There is another problem. People who have nothing to do inside industrial estates park their vehicles here, especially in the night time. As per my information, roads inside an industrial estate are not covered by the RTO (Regional Transport Office) act. Therefore, I am not sure if the traffic police can be designated on these roads to control the traffic.”
The number of industries is growing in the state. Consequently, the number of vehicles and the type of vehicles is changing rapidly. Unless GIDC really sorts out the issues pertaining to roads within the industrial estates, the situation will not improve and the industries will continue to suffer.
