CALANGUTE: The Calangute panchayat members on Saturday slammed PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral for “neglecting” the repairs of roads, resulting in tourism suffering, and claimed that the PWD has been deliberately neglecting the repairs of roads in Calangute.
“In the last seven-eight years, tourism has declined in Calangute because of bad roads. Tourists go back with bad memories. We had informed the PWD Minister that the roads which had been dug by JICA for the sewerage pipeline network should be repaired. In Baga, the roads have sunk, but the PWD is not doing anything. Why are we not given proper treatment?” they questioned.
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“Why only roads in Calangute are bad? You go to Arpora-Nagoa, Candolim, there the roads are good. It’s an open secret that the PWD is not doing anything in Calangute. We hold the PWD Minister responsible for this,” sarpanch Joseph Sequeira said.
“When we inquire with the PWD officials, they say the work orders have been given. But when we ask the contractors, they say no work orders are given,” panchayat members said.
Sequeira said tourists visiting Calangute are posting negative reports about the bad roads which is affecting tourism. “A lot of women tourists visit Calangute, renting two-wheelers, fall and get injured due to the bad roads and then tell their friends ‘Don’t go to Calangute, the roads are bad there’,” he said.
Panchayat members said the situation has been dismal ever since the roads were dug for the sewerage pipeline network seven-eight years ago. With the sewerage network yet to be commissioned, they said the JICA contractor pumps out the water which accumulates in the underground pipes, leading to the roads sinking. “The new tourist season is about to start. We appeal to the chief minister to do something,” panchayat members said.
