The way our very own long-serving PWD Minister blames the rains for the sad state of our roads, it looks as if the rains are not a normal feature but an unforeseen natural calamity that has befallen us. We bear the brunt of the monsoons for just about four months; there are places with well preserved roads where it rains almost throughout the year!
Even assuming that Goan rains contain a special chemical that dissolves bituminous roads, logically there should not have been a single good road in Goa, but there are many and that too, ones that are subjected to heavy traffic the Dabolim Airport road , built by a Central road agency is just a case in point! The public is being brainwashed into believing that potholes are a natural phenomenon that cannot be avoided during the monsoons.
One need not be a road engineer to know why roads get washed away so easily or get riddled with potholes within a few days of downpour. Anybody with a little common sense will understand why our roads are so fragile and we Goans should understand this more easily because we make and eat Attol (a Goan sweet dish made by cooking rice and channa dal with thick coconut milk and jaggery till it gets condensed). If we use less jaggery or if the coconut milk is too watery, the Attol does not acquire the required strength to hold itself and crumbles easily.
The comparison between road construction and Attol making may sound like a cheap joke, but in both cases the binding agent (which in case of roads is bitumen) is of utmost importance! The main reason why roads crumble so easily is because of compromised road building material. Secondly, the thickness of the layers is not as per specifications. This results in roads of fragile tensile strength that are unable to withstand the load. Poor road engineering leading to water logging is another main factor.
To cut a long story short, our roads suffer from potholes because they suffer from corrupt politicians! After paying hefty commission to the concerned ministers and feeding every human/ inhuman rodent down the whole rotten system, can we fault the road contractors for trying to make a fast buck? The unholy nexus between ministers, contractors and engineers being well known, the kind of quality control the Goa PWD can exercise on the road contractors is anybody’s guess.
Driving on some of our roads or whatever is left between potholes is a nightmare especially for two wheeler riders. If our PWD Minister cannot give us roads that preserve, he should at least pass on the portfolio to his cabinet colleagues who are better versed in the art of preservation.
