TEAM HERALD
PORVORIM: Signboards are meant to guide motorists, but two signboards recently placed near the ACDIL high school along the Mapusa–Panjim highway have caused added confusion among motorists.
The first signboard with the caution: ‘Work in progress for new Mandovi Bridge – Diversion ahead 100 metres,’ has been displayed near Gauri car fuel station. The second signboard ‘Work in progress for new Mandovi Bridge – Take diversion via Gurudwara Betim-Malim-Panjim,’ is located about 100 metres away near ACDIL High School.
Taking note of the second signboard, unsuspecting motorists, especially tourists and inter-state vehicles, turn towards the right and proceed towards the Gurudwara at Betim and then proceed towards Malim.
On reaching the Mandovi bridge via Malim, they end up realizing that the diversion was unnecessary, thereby wasting fuel and time in the process.
The signboards had been erected to caution motorists of the narrow road, while work on the new bridge was in progress along the road dividers opposite Sai Service station. The narrow road had led to severe and frequent traffic jams along the highway.
In a bid to regulate the traffic, authorities had diverted traffic via the Gurudwara at Betim and Malim, while also removing the barricades around the Mandovi bridge circle, to enable motorists to enter the junction from Malim.
Later, bulldozers excavated mud from the retaining wall of Sai Service station and the narrow road near the road divider at Sai Service was widened. The widened road resolved the traffic congestion to a large extent, but the two signboards diverting traffic continue to remain at the site, misleading motorists.
While regular motorists ignore the signboards and are aware that the road has been widened near Sai Service station, tourists and other motorists, especially inter-state vehicles unfamiliar with the route are often misled by the signboards and unnecessarily take the diversion to Panjim via Betim and Malim.
