Road digging in Panjim created a massive traffic jam on June 14, a Monday when Goa further relaxed pandemic restrictions leading to extra traffic on the streets and hence office staff reporting late to work due to the traffic snarl. The most telling of all indications is that PWD Minister Deepak Pauskar admitted that the job being undertaken was pre-monsoon work that had been started on June 12 and would be completed on June 14 night. He of course had an explanation for the delay in taking up pre-monsoon work after the start of the monsoon and it was that the contractor had delayed the work due to non-availability of labourers in view of the pandemic.
When development works have been ongoing, when private enterprise has been able to keep its wheels moving despite the pandemic and the lockdowns and the curfews, why is the government, or for that matter its contractors, unable to hire labourers to complete pressing pre-monsoon works? The work was of laying cross drainages – one near the Mandovi bridge and another near the Old Secretariat. It was the one near the Mandovi bridge that brought traffic on the highway to a standstill and then to a crawl through most of the day. Should the government and the contractor get away with just the excuse of non availability of labourers due to the pandemic?
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Look at it a little more closely and the issue is not just related to the digging up of roads. Motorists were annoyed, and rightly so, that road digging was allowed during the monsoon and on the day when the Indian Meteorological Department had issued a red alert and after the North Goa District Magistrate had banned digging and cutting of all types of roads for a period of 60 days, which is the usual practice during the monsoon. So if it was banned, who ordered the road digging and to be undertaken on a Monday morning? This is a clear instance of government departments not working in tandem and not adhering to the orders of the other.
When the Collector has banned digging of the roads, the PWD goes ahead and does just that. Is it the accepted practice for one government department to overrule the orders of the other? There is a reason for the ban on road digging during the monsoon, which is danger to motorists, commuters and pedestrians and which is stated in the order of the District Collector. By taking up the digging, this is exactly what PWD did – put lives at risk. What resulted was a traffic jam leading to delays. Luckily there was no untoward incident from this. Who then would have been responsible for it? Would it be the Public Works Department to assume responsibility?
The episode indicates a complete lack of planning in the government. It is not that the need for crossdrains was realised just as the monsoon was approaching. So why wait so late to take up the work? This is more than just about a traffic jam on a Monday morning. This is an example of how government departments get away by not following the rules. Since there is a violation of an order issued by the collector, will there be action taken? Somebody is at fault here, but with no accountability there will be no action taken. It is only when the government gets serious and brings in accountability that its staff may change and adopt better work attitudes.
