CALANGUTE: The Calangute villagers along with the members of a local activist group on Sunday planted coconut saplings on potholes along Sinquerim-Calangute-Arpora-Nagoa road, to protest the apathy of the authorities to the plight of road users.
Calling the protest as an “Audit of potholed roads in Calangute”, the villagers identified a total of 200 potholes on the main road as well as the internal roads in Calangute constituency. During this drive, the villagers planted coconut saplings on 50 potholes.
President of Calangute Constituency Forum Premanand Divkar said that his group would object to all the illegalities in Calangute and demand basic amenities such as adequate water supply, undisrupted electricity and proper roads.
“The BJP-government promised to make Calangute a world class tourist destination with international standard infrastructure, but almost five years later we have not seen any development. The sewerage pipeline laying work has been going on for the last six years,” Divkar pointed out.
“Since the work of the sewerage pipeline is still ongoing, a number of potholes have developed on roads, making their condition very bad. The sewerage chambers have not been covered properly which poses a threat to the two-wheeler riders,” he added.
The Vice-President of the Calangute Citizens Forum and former Parra Sarpanch Benedict D’Souza said that the condition of roads in the constituency is very bad.
“The state of roads in our constituency is pathetic and our visionary leader is turning a blind eye towards the same. We are sad to see that the leader chosen by us is busy empowering himself and following corrupt practices. He is not concerned about the locals but only the traditional migrant vote bank of his,” he said.
