It may sound strange but true. The fact is Quepem town lacks a full-fledged bus stand to cater to the transport needs of its residents and the public in general. In the absence of a bus stand traffic chaos have become the order of the day.
A visit the town reveals the sorry state of affairs as buses are found parked near the Bhisso Pharmacy along the main road, close to the Kunde book stall along the Quepem-Curchorem Road, near the Holy Cross Institute School in Quepem Market and close to Pope John High School.
Traffic snarls are a regular feature in the town due to the parking of buses the road side.
In the absence of a proper bus stand bus owners are left with no other option but to park their busses on the road side which results in traffic chaos.
Quepem town plays host to a number of government offices — Mamlatdar office, SDM and Deputy Collector’s Office, Survey Department, RTO and Quepem Municipal Council.
People from Curchorem, Cacora, Fatorpa, Morpilla, Subdolem, Balli, Quitol Naqueri, Molcornem, Kavrem, Maina, Xeldem, Cottombi, Barcem and other villages visit the town for administrative work and in the absence of a full-fledged bus stand they are forced to undergo severe hardship in boarding a bus to reach their respective destinations which otherwise could been a smooth journey. Pedestrians, motorists, students and locals face lots of problems in the absence of a proper bus stand. Since the last several years, locals have been demanding for bus stand but none of the political leaders and local representatives paid heed to the problem.
Recently, the Quepem Municipal Council (QMC) has sent a proposal to government to construct a full-fledged bus stand. Local MLA Chandrakant Babu Kavalekar also tried his level best to get this proposal passed by government but in vain. Since the last 15 years, Kavalekar has been representing the Quepem constituency as an MLA, besides this, the Kavalekar-backed QMC has also failed in its efforts to pursue the demand for a bus stand with the government. It is learnt from sources that Kavalekar and his supporters had made many attempts to get full fledged bus stand file passed but it is alleged that the same was “kept on hold” by the government.
Sources further informed that the government did not favour the land acquisition proposal as it claimed it was facing a financial crunch.
When contacted for his commented on the bus stand issue, the Quepem MLA Chandrakant Babu Kavalekar said, “Bus stand project is my dream project. I have initiated this idea. I am aware the problems locals are facing. We had already acquired land for the bus stand project. Project is waiting for financial clearance from government. In coming days after the formation of new government this project will certainly be on my priority list. Quepemkars very soon will get a well designed and well equipped bus stand. There were many hurdles in this project we succeeded in clearing all now this project proposal in the final stage.”
Local bus owners have blamed both the Congress and BJP governments for failing to provide a full-fledged bus stand for Quepem. “It’s a nightmare for commuters. Pedestrians and students fear to walk along the road and I fail to understand as to why the government cannot construct a bus stand in Quepem which is a taluka headquarters as small towns such as Curchorem and Cuncolim already have bus stands. Our MLA and local Council have failed to meet our demand,” said S Goes, a resident.
Now, the residents allege that the local representatives are shirking away from their duties and trying to pass the buck on each other.
