PANJIM: Almost every highest-end car brand is parked in the garages of Dona Paula, in bungalows that are worthy of then and owned by Goa’s rich, famous and the influential. But the road to this paradise of barons is not paved with gold but potholes and debris and stone and sand. It’s a miracle how these cars ply on them, making each journey a home, a nightmare, faced with prayer.
Dona Paula is said to be the most valued piece of residential real estate in the State. The cost of bungalows and flats in the area is in crores. But the approach roads to this prized piece of real estate are fit for bullock carts. Most of the roads have degenerated into dirt tracks, fit only for 4 wheel drives.
The internal roads into those colonies are not tarred and have deteriorated badly.
“They put in sewage lines and destroyed all the roads in Taleigao. The only road that has been touched up has been the Miramar-Dona Paula road. It was tarred, but has now been broken up again,” Anand Madgavkar, a longtime resident of Dona Paula told Herald. “All other roads are still in bad shape.”
The authorities have been breaking up roads, but not putting them together. In fact during the just concluded Assembly session, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had agreed that the roads were in pathetic condition and promised to supervise the works.
He said he would personally supervise the ongoing sewerage work, including closing up of the trenches as well as the asphalting of the roads after completion of work in Taleigao constituency, intervening after a concerted attack was launched by the Monserrate couple – Jennifer and Atanasio (Babush) on the PWD Minister Ramkrishna Sudin Dhavalikar on the lack of supervision by his engineers leading to bad state of roads and pending works in Taleigao constituency.
“Please remove this portfolio from him. Please give him the Art and Culture portfolio. He is more involved in Culture,” Babush had mocked the PWD Minister alleging that the department’s engineers were not supervising what was going on and that one of the junior engineers even told him that he could not check what was going on because he did not have a jeep.
“In some places in Taleigao there are no roads,” said Taleigao MLA Jennifer Monserrate had told the House, arguing that the minister’s explanation that the filling of the sewerage trenches needing time to settle did not hold water as two rains had poured over them and the tarring had still not been done.
At this, the Chief Minister had intervened saying: “There is total neglect by the engineers. I will personally look into this.”
Locals, Domingos Souza and Monica Bhariiya too agreed that the work was a great inconvenience.
“It’s going on for too long. We can’t see the end of it (the works). We are wondering when it will get over,” says Domingos. “It all started with the digging of roads for sewerage, then widening of roads and it is still going on.”
Agrees Monica: “The inconvenience is heavy. They (authorities) seemed to be redoing many things at once. We don’t know whether there is any plan made out…. The areas have become danger-prone. The worst affected is landline and internet connectivity.
