Travelling from Porvorim to Panjim seems to have become a nightmare for the commuters due to the pathetic condition of the road.
The new service road, where the traffic is diverted due to ongoing construction of third Mandovi bridge, near the new Water Resources Department, has become almost unmotorable.
The service road has developed several potholes forcing the traffic to move at a snail’s pace.
The situation is such that it takes almost 45 minutes to reach to the Mandovi bridge from the WRD office at peak hours, when the traffic is heavy.
Normally, Porvorim used to witness traffic jams only during peak hours but due to the condition of the road, congestion takes place throughout the day.
As a result commuters, specially two-wheeler riders, are now taking the internal road from the Teachers Training College and Porvorim Bazar and exit from Sai Service junction, which is a longer route.
The commuters complain that the service road stretch especially near the WRD office to Hero showroom is in a pathetic state.
“The rains have turned the road into a lunar surface dotted with slush-filled potholes,” said a commuter Robin D’Souza. “The motorists are facing the brunt of the uneven road that has made commuting on this stretch a nightmarish experience,” he added.
The condition of road has led to several minor accidents and people have also complained of getting flat tyres, which has made matters worse.
Commuters as well as the residents now demand that the authorities need to act immediately.
“The road is become a nightmare to patients and pregnant women,” said a student Sanjay Naik.
Porvorim legislator Rohan Khaunte has blamed the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation for the state of the road saying “Definitely it is an unsatisfactory work. As per GSIDC, the cross drain has got choked which has led to rain water getting accumulated in this area and has finally affected the road….”
“…now they are not able to carry out the works due to the continuous rains. I have given them an ultimatum of this week to commence and complete the work,” he said.
Further, Khaunte says, “this again shows how insensitive the government is towards the issues faced by common man. It is not able to control of problems created by contractors during construction of big projects like the Mandovi bridge.”
“The contractors under the GSIDC involved in construction of the service road should be taken to task for incomplete, delayed and unsatisfactory work,” he said.
