Team Herald
MARGAO: With the Margao Municipal Council (MMC) failing to clear the footpaths along the Margao-Navelim four-lane road, residents of Colmorod have stepped up, rolling up their sleeves to clear the overgrown bushes, ahead of the Rosary Church Feast.
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Former Margao Chairperson Savio Coutinho, who led the initiative, expressed frustration over the lack of action from the Council. “Traditionally, the Council would deploy workers to clean the roads leading to the Navelim Church a week before the feast, ensuring that everything was safe, tidy and convenient for the thousands of pedestrians. Unfortunately, this was not done this year,” Coutinho said.
He emphasised that with so many people walking to the church and the fair, the thick overgrowth of weeds and bushes on the footpaths forces pedestrians to walk on the road, creating a serious safety hazard. “As a former councillor, I, along with my successors, always made it a point to clear the roads and footpaths – not just before the feast, but throughout the year, despite limited resources and manpower,” he added. “Now, despite an increase in both funding and personnel, the public service has become worse.”
Local resident Olympio Fernandes also weighed in, highlighting the safety concerns posed by the overgrown vegetation. “There are fields beyond the footpaths, and allowing thick bushes to grow there is particularly worrying because snakes and other reptiles often make their way onto the footpaths,” he said.
Another resident, Orlando Dias, criticised the government for its claims of a “100% defecation-free” State. “A visit to the footpaths between Kudchadkar Hospital and Preeti Hotel will prove otherwise,” he said, adding that migrants often take advantage of the overgrown shrubbery to defecate in the open. Residents are now calling on the MMC to take immediate action, demanding that sweepers be deployed to clean the roads and footpaths.
