SANGUEM: Although Chief Minister Pramod Sawant declared that the State had spent over Rs 20,000 crore on roads in the last years while inaugurating the new Zuari Bridge, roads in interior Goa do not allow ambulances to reach the poor.
On Tuesday, 62-year-old Paik Gaonkar from Kazugotta, Sanguem, who suffered a heart attack, could not reach the nearest hospital in time, because the ambulance could not reach his house due to the bad road. The 108 ambulance stopped two-and-a-half kilometres away from Paik Gaonkar’s house and the driver said that it could not go further due to the bad condition of the untarred road. The ambulance did not have a stretcher either. So the family members of Gaonkar had to wrap him in a blanket and carry him for two-and-a-half kilometres to the ambulance.
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Before Gaonkar could reach the hospital, he passed away and was declared brought dead by doctors on arrival to the hospital. The excruciating ordeal was not over for the family members yet. When the ambulance ferried the body back, it again stopped two-and-a-half kilometres due to the non-asphalted road and the family members had to again carry Gaonkar’s body in a blanket.
This is happening in Goa where a lavish one of its kind revolving restaurant and art gallery will adorn the towers of the fancy 640 metres new Zuari Bridge, constructed at a cost of Rs 2,600 crore. However, even if the government spends a fraction of the money in developing village roads, villagers such as Paik Gaonkar will not have to lose their lives.
Locals stated that the Karla road, which leads to the village of Kazugotta, Sanguem, had been tendered in 2013 at a cost of Rs 4 crore, but 10 years later, there is only a mud road. They also stated that since the village has a population of only 200 Scheduled Tribes, the local MLAs have not bothered to ensure that the road is tarred. Irate locals demanded that the government, which is spending heavily on highways and infrastructure, should also invest in rural roads. The same is the condition of roads in many parts of rural Goa.
ST leader Rama Kankonkar who visited Kazugotta said, “Many rural villages have no roads –these include Ladke, Kerim and Kazugotta to name a few. This is the fate of rural folks even though Goa was liberated in 1961. We have no accessibility even after Liberation. Rs 250 crore, allocated by the Central government for tribal development, is being used for other purposes. Why can’t tribal funds be used for the welfare of tribals?”
“When the tribals went to demand the road at Kazugotta village, the authorities questioned them how can Rs 10 crore be spent for a road for 150 people?” Kankonkar recounted. “Why can’t you spend Rs 10 crore from the Rs 250 crore allocated for us?”
Another activist Xencor Polgi, “What is the problem? For whom are you running the government casino lobby? Builders’ lobby? Coal lobby? Migrant lobby? For whom are you running the government? If you build gutters in the capital city of Panjim, is it development? Development should be carried out in villages of Goa, where Goa lives. Implement the Gram Sadak yojana in villages, where does this money go? Where are the Central and State governments’ money going? Why is the allocated Rs 250 crore not being utilised for the tribals?
Paik Gaonkar leaves behind an elderly mother, three younger brothers and a daughter. After suffering a heart attack, he was carried by his brother to the ambulance on his shoulders in a blanket. Then after he was declared dead, his body had to be carried on their shoulders back again to his home.
