Demanding that the State government repair all the pothole-ridden roads across the State, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Goa, on Monday submitted one lakh road-related complaints to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant as part of its ‘BJP CheBurak’ campaign. Emphasising the critical state of the roads, party’s national convenor Arvind Kejriwal stated that they are “so bad, so terrible that it seemed there were no pot holes in the roads, but rath er roads in the potholes.” Earlier, Kejriwal flagged off a truck in Panjim carry ing the letters addressed to the Chief Minister.
AAP leaders drove the vehicle to the Mantralaya, Por vorim where they submitted the letters. After meeting the Chief Minister, AAP State president Adv Amit Palekar said that the Chief Minister has assured them that the immediate repair of roads will commence within next four days while all the roads will be pothole-free be fore Diwali. Palekar informed that these signature letters were col lected from people during door-to-door across the State after they launched the campaign against pothole-ridden roads. When asked whether the government will start repair work within the next four days, Adv Palekar said, “For the past four Diwalis and four Chaturthis, the Chief Minister has been saying that the roads will be repaired. Today again, he gave us a similar assurance. But we are not going to be fooled by such promises and we will soon follow up with the government to ensure that the roads are actually repaired.” Benaulim MLA Capt Venzy Viegas, said, “This govern ment is completely non-serious about the people of Goa. Several people have lost their lives and many others have suffered hand and leg injuries because of the pathetic condition of the roads. Just a few days ago, an ambulance overturned due to the poor road condition in Porvorim. Imagine the state of Goa, where even an ambulance can not travel safely. The roads are in such terrible shape that people’s lives are constantly at risk. We demand that the Chief Minister take this issue seriously and get the roads repaired at the earliest.” Kejriwal said, “We all know that the condition of Goa’s roads is terrible. Whenever I meet people from Goa, they would tell me that the roads are in a very bad condition. For the past three days, I have been in Goa myself. One day, I travelled from Santa Cruz to Mapusa. The roads were so bad, so terrible that it seemed there were no potholes in the roads, but rather roads in the potholes.” Kejriwal continued, “Another day, I travelled from Santa Cruz to Mayem. Instead of taking us on the actual route, they took a detour that took one-and-a-half hours, just so that we could not see the real condition of the roads. When we returned by the original route, we saw how bad the roads really were. Across Goa, the situation is the same.” Kejriwal said the situation was so dire that citizens were being intimidated for demanding basic repairs. “If any Goan citizen demands that their road be repaired, the ruling par ty’s people threaten them, scare them, beat them up. People are not even allowed to demand their rights,” he said. The AAP chief said that in response, the AAP had launched a State-wide campaign against the BJP government, raising the voice of every Goan demanding safe motorable roads. “This campaign was not just AAP’s, it was the demand of the people of Goa. It was their voice, their need. They want proper roads. Every day, accidents are taking place because of these potholes. Even the Chief Minister himself admitted in the Goa Assembly that numerous accidents are happen ing due to these potholes,” Kejriwal said. According to Kejriwal, out of a total 3.5 lakh families in Goa, 1 lakh families signed the petition and hoped that the Goa Chief Minister heeds to the plea of Goans. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant assured yet again that road repair works across the State will be com pleted within the next 15 days. After accepting the complaints/signature letters submit ted by the AAP leaders, Sawant said repair works are being carried out in several parts of the State.
