Santosh Naik
PONDA: The Borim locals for the past several years have been demanding to reduce the size of traffic circle at Borim, to prevent fatal accidents, where most of the heavy vehicles often found overturned, while negotiating the circle.
Now, the intensity of demand has grown since August 6, after a Electricity Department’s truck carrying poles and its employees, overturned causing instant death of three on the spot as they were crushed under the truck and poles and injuring three seriously.
According to the locals, the traffic circle is located near Borim Bridge on the Margao-Ponda Highway, and the accidents often take place when the vehicles from Margao are negotiating the circle to proceed towards Ponda. This is because the size of the circle is too big and as per the required standard of national highway. But the road by the side of the circle is too narrow. The drivers of the heavy vehicles while coming down from the slope find it difficult to negotiate the narrow road around the circle, resulting either to fall on its side or turning turtle.
The locals have termed the circle as “circle of disaster”. They say at least now, taking a lesson of the recent accident, wherein three employees of Electricity Department died on the spot and seriously injuring three, the government and National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) officials should take immediate steps to improvise the circle so that accidents are prevented.
Borim Deputy Sarpanch Sunil Sawakar said, “This is our long pending demand to improvise the circle or reduce the size for smooth movement of the vehicles. We have even adopted a resolution in body meeting to write to the National Highways Authority of India for urgent inspection and to adopt safety measures.”
“I personally had a talk with the NHAI official and he had assured me to look into the matter. The panchayat would officially hand over the letter to PWD and NHAI regarding this dangerous traffic circle, to immediately inspect and adopt safety measures,” he added.
According to the Deputy Sarpanch, the size of the circle is too big and the width of the road is too narrow, which makes it difficult for heavy vehicles to negotiate a turn thus leading to accidents.
