Stephen Fernandes cannot help but look in despair at the
terrible condition of the road in front of his house in Arpora, barely
remembering the last time he saw it in immaculate condition. The road
maintenance work underway for almost two years in several areas on the stretch
from Candolim to Baga has changed the face and the character of this road
completely. Traffic jams, excessive honking and road rage has become a common
sight and the worst affected are the ones residing in these areas, followed by
the tourists and Goans who drive through this stretch, mostly for their fix of
weekend partying.
Fernandes says, “The terrible state of infrastructure has
not only affected tourism in this area but has become a nightmare for people
like us who live here. Once upon a time, it used to take a maximum of 5 minutes
to drive down to Calangute from Arpora. Now it takes nothing less than 20
minutes. Moreover, if you thought driving is a bad idea thanks to the complete
mess and no designated parking zones, riding two-wheelers is dangerous too as
there is water-logging and you can never tell which puddle might be deep enough
to suck you in.”
At a time when the idea of Goa having an off season during
the monsoons is fast turning out to be a myth, thanks to the buzzing
entertainment action happening in Baga, the sorry state of roads acts as a potential deterrent and does enough to keep
people from visiting this stretch. Recently, when Candace Braganza returned to
Goa from Dubai, where she works, her first drive to the Baga-Calangute stretch
was nothing short of a rude shock. Braganza says, “Having been in Goa for over
two months and driving through the Baga-Candolim stretch every weekend, I’ve
not seen any improvement in the condition of roads so far. If driving in a four
wheeler causes me such strain, I can only imagine how difficult it would be for
those riding, especially with the monsoons making it even more challenging. As
this is one of the most famous and most commonly accessed areas, especially
during the night, the concerned authorities need to take some serious action
about this issue.”
When Herald had approached Calangute MLA Michael Lobo in
November last year and asked him to comment on ongoing infrastructure works
along the Calangute coast, Lobo had said, “The JICA and PWD officials have been
instructed to coordinate and complete the digging works at the earliest. They
have been asked to complete the repair of damaged roads as soon as possible.
The sewage works have to continue and completed in the interest of Calangute
villagers. The PWD and JICA have also taken up repair work of internal roads,
which will be hot-mixed later. Everything should fall in place by the month
end.” All efforts of getting fresh comments from Lobo were futile as he could
not be contacted.
