Mapusa: Hundreds of residents of Colvale village on Tuesday gathered on the National Highway 66 at Colvale to confront PWD minister Nilesh Cabral over the provision of a flyover at the junction. However, as the Minister did not show up, the people gheraoed the executive engineer instead, and demanded that a flyover be constructed at the accident-prone junction. The protesters recalled that the government had earlier planned a flyover there, but it was later scrapped and shifted to Dhargal.
“The main market is located across the road as well as the other facilities including doctors clinics, pharmacies, and other shops. People are forced to cross this busy road to buy groceries and to access other essential facilities, and without a flyover, it is very difficult to negotiate this crossing ,” said a local, pointing out that the National Highway has divided the village into two parts. “We demand a flyover from Colvale bridge to Binani Junction, and only then will the people living here get relief from the continuous highway traffic,” said another protester. The locals said that senior citizens and school children have to wait for a long time and then dart across the road, which is highly unsafe. They added that several accidents have occurred at the junction in the past few months, and the safety of pedestrians should be considered top priority.
