Panjim City has become one of the most dangerous places in Goa, in terms of road safety. Roads which were once designated as “one way” are no longer safe. Suddenly and quite unexpectedly, you will find a four wheeler or a two wheeler zooming into you on a sharp blind turn or a narrow corner. “No entry” roads are brazenly used by vehicle users with gay abandon.
The purpose of designating roads as “one way” or “no entry” was to ensure the smooth flow of traffic and road safety. The violation of the “no entry” and “one way roads” often leads to fights between vehicle users. The violators however just don’t care, even as they pose serious threat to the lives of others.
Most of the vehicle users who violate no entry or one way streets are rent-a-cab drivers, who are mostly tourists from other states. The reason is they do not know the routes in the city. When they don’t have a clue about the city, they use Google Maps. Unfortunately, though Google Maps are extremely useful to locate places and do away with the ordeal of asking locals, they also have a great limitation in terms of traffic safety. They do not show “no entry” and “one way” streets.
Hence tourists in Panjim drive full speed through no entry and one way streets, creating a traffic hazard. However, this is not limited to tourists either. Tourist taxis driven by drivers from other states, who are hired by local taxi owners, especially those from outside Panjim also take no entry routes and one way roads. Since there is utter lawlessness on the streets even locals are encouraged to take the no entry or one way streets. When questioned or told that this is a one way or no entry street, they shout back “zana re” (I know).
While this has been happening ever since the Smart City works began, where roads were suddenly closed overnight and one had to take no entry or one way routes, now that the Smart City has finished digging and tarring the roads, the habit still continues. Now that the roads are complete, the guardians of the streets — Goa’s Traffic Police should be out on the roads to fine the lawbreakers. But this is not happening.
To complicate things and lessen the personnel on the street, the power of imposing fines has been given to only Police Sub Inspectors (PSIs) at night and Police Inspectors (PIs) by the day. The PI for instance has a lot of administrative work, so will he be on the streets or in his office as head of the department? This is simply incomprehensible.
There should be more traffic police on the streets to see that road users follow rules but more importantly to prevent violation of no entry and one way streets.
The violation of no entry happens more frequently after nightfall and the possibility of accidents increases manifold. The Mahatma Gandhi Road right from Don Bosco High School to the Head Post office and the old Patto bridge, the 18th June Road; the Atmaram Borkar Road and the Dada Vaidya road are all one way, where dangerous traffic situations arise.
However, the largest part of the blame lies at the doorsteps of the Imagine Panjim Smart City Development Limited. It appears after completing tarring of the roads, the Smart City officials seem to be taking rest. They have removed all the old “No Entry” and traffic sign boards which existed in Panjim. So neither the tourists nor the tourist taxi drivers from other states or from Goa can be blamed for violating no entry zones.
With no Smart City signboards and with no traffic policemen to guide vehicle users, Panjim has become a hot spot for accidents. There is a possibility of people losing a limb or life at every corner in Panjim. It is high time the Smart City gets its act together and puts up traffic signs especially no entry signs on a war footing to ensure traffic safety and that precious lives are not lost, due to their negligence.