CUNCOLIM: The Cuncolim Market to Cuncolim Industrial Estate Road has become a gateway to accidents, with an alarming number of vehicles meeting with mishaps due to the road’s deplorable condition. Since the onset of monsoon, more than 70 bike riders have experienced brutal falls, 10 four-wheeler drivers have escaped with minor injuries, and three loaded lorries have overturned on the road.
The poor condition of the Cuncolim-Quepem road has led to ten two-wheeler riders suffering major fractures and four others sustaining serious injuries.
Motorists who regularly use this road have been sharing their harrowing experiences. A teacher, who was among those injured, told OHeraldo that her knee was injured, and she sustained a leg fracture due to the treacherous road conditions.
The dangerous situation has been attributed to the negligence of the contractor responsible for underground electricity cabling. Residents and commuters are questioning how the contractor was permitted to dig the road at the start of the monsoon, despite a State-wide ban on road digging after May 15. The roadwork, conducted using both drilling equipment and manual digging, continued unabated even during heavy rains, further worsening the condition of the road.
Not only was the road dug on both sides and in the middle, but the debris and mud left behind were not properly cleared. As a result, the first rains washed away the loose earth, creating massive potholes that turned the road into an obstacle course for commuters. Although complaints from locals led to the contractor filling some potholes with large laterite stones, the situation only worsened as no road roller was used to level the surface.
Residents, who have lost patience, are now demanding answers. They question why the underground cabling work was initiated during the monsoon, how the contractor obtained permission for road digging during this time, and why the concerned authorities failed to monitor the ongoing work. The lack of intervention by local leaders, including the MLA and councillors from both the Congress and BJP, has also been criticised.
Cuncolim locals are facing similar hardships on other internal roads as well, and they are calling for immediate intervention to repair the roads using new jet puncture technology. The Chairperson of the Cuncolim Municipal Council, CP Mascarenhas, attributed the mess to wrong planning by experts and claimed that locals were harassing them for no fault of their own. “We had brought this issue to the concerned officials and also to the contractor, but the contractor failed to act,” Mascarenhas said. Locals are now urging MLA and Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao to take the initiative to resolve this mess. As Rakshabandhan approaches, residents are appealing to CM Pramod Sawant to take personal interest in this issue before he visits his sister’s place in Cuncolim for the festival.
