The width of the national highway passing through Borim has remained unchanged since the road was created. The traffic that passes through this village, on the other hand, has increased tremendously over the last decade, putting stress on the narrow highway as well as the Borim Bridge. As a result, the locals feel the need for a bypass road and another bridge to decongest the village.
Travelling on the two-kilometre highway stretch in the tiny, scenic village of Borim has become dangerous for the locals due to the frequent movement lorries, trucks, buses, and other two- and four-wheelers.
According to Borim locals, the biggest reason for the movement of heavy traffic through their village for the last many years is that the government has prohibited heavy vehicles from plying on the Cortalim bridge due to its weakened load-bearing capacity.
As a result, heavy traffic was diverted to the Borim bridge, and with the growth of heavy vehicles, moving along the Borim highway has become a great problem for the locals, who are inconvenienced a lot due to long queues of vehicles. They are not even able to cross the road for a long time during peak traffic hours in the morning and evening. Passengers also face the same situation after alighting from a bus. A number of fatal mishaps have occurred along this stretch of road at Borim, while it is difficult to travel to a hospital during emergencies.
This road has become important, as traffic connecting North and South Goa plies through it. Heavy inter-state vehicles from Karnataka, Karwar and Belgaum transport goods to the industrial estates at Marcaim, Bethora, Kundaim and other industrial estates in Goa through the village.
“The locals had discussed the issue in the gram sabha and we are in the process of short-listing solutions to this problem. As of now, the only two options to resolve this issue are: to construct a bypass and to build a new parallel bridge to reduce the pressure on the existing Borim Bridge,” said Subhash Naik, a local.
According to villagers, the widening of the Borim highway cannot be taken up as several houses are located on either side of the road.
Speaking to Herald, former panch Shivdas Naik said, “Diversion of heavy vehicles from the Cortalim bridge has added pressure on the Borim bridge as well as the village roads. There is a need to either widen the roads or to construct an alternative bridge as well as bypass road for Borim. Frequent traffic jams make it difficult for villagers during emergency situations, such as shifting patients for medical attention through 108 or private vehicles.”
Subhash also said that the villagers had been facing hardships ever since heavy vehicles began passing through the village in large numbers. He stated, “The villagers face difficulty due to the continuous flow of highway traffic through the village. The Borim bridge is also under pressure since heavy vehicles were prohibited from travelling along the Zuari bridge at Cortalim for the past few years. Every day, traffic congestion takes place due to accidents.”
