The roads are still being worked on relentlessly, pipes being pushed underground such that the roads are now cracking, caking up, quaking and very uneven. They have been narrowed at many places where soil has been dumped. Machinery is occupying half the road and creating bottlenecks all over the place. Fruit, vegetable vending areas are stinking of rotting leftovers becoming good breeding ground for mosquitoes, flies, insects, worms, etc. Cows and bulls are all over the roads and the market place, leaving behind dung to be trampled upon and then spread around the roads and maybe into shops. The stink is unbearable.
Motorcyclists are now ruling the narrow inner walkways in the market, honking to glory and trying to zoom into whatever narrow space they can get in to, parking at entrances of the market and shops, thus creating a nuisance to shoppers. The road opposite the Mapusa Residency has all sorts of shops along the narrow entrance from Parra. Mechanics, repair men, chai shops, Matka receivers’ desks, a little bar thrown in, fruit vendors, juice stall, etc; thus further narrowing the narrow entry where motorcycles, cars, rickshaws park temporarily to have their fill.
O Mapusa, my beautiful Mapusa of the yesteryears, gone are the days when I would be there everyday of my life until 1983. Now I dread the moment when I know I have to pay you a visit. My once beautiful city, I humbly beg your pardon for that.
