BAGA: The last few weeks have seen a deluge of tourists on the coastal belt of Goa – a deluge that it is struggling to cope with. The St Anthony’s junction, Tito’s junction and Café Coffee Day point are the few places that are witnessing huge bottle necks along the Calangute- Baga stretch.
Every peak season, there is a massive inflow of tourists along this belt; and a lot of foreign tourists flock to the Calangute-Baga stretch. This flow of tourists leads to traffic jams at main junctions leaving the locals as well as tourist frustrated. The narrow roads leading to these beaches witness bumper to bumper traffic. At times, it takes nearly an hour for the locals to reach home during the peak hours.
A local and businessman from Baga told Herald that they are bearing the brunt of traffic chaos along the Calangute-Baga during the tourist season.
“When the tourist season kicks off, we have a lot of problem travelling on this route especially on weekends. During this tourist season, the foreign tourists are seen in huge numbers; and when there is a long holiday, there is massive influx of domestic tourists as well. Between 7 pm and 1 am the roads are jam packed and one cannot even walk freely,” he said.
Savio Dsouza, another local, suggested that the Calangute panchayat should have a mechanism in place to deal with the traffic chaos faced by the locals. “I also faced inconvenience on Saturday; I was caught in traffic for over twenty minutes on the Baga stretch, while heading for work,” he demurred.
Calangute Constituency Forum President Premanand Divkar told Herald that it is high time that an elaborate traffic plan put in place.
“It is only the traffic police that can ensure an orderly movement of traffic along this stretch. The government should improve the road infrastructure in the coastal villages to provide the tourists with a pleasant experience,” Divkar said.
