The delay in completing the construction of the road from NIO Circle to Dona Paula Jetty is solely because of non-cooperation of different government departments that includes PWD, water supply, electricity and other service providers, says the contractor tasked with the job.
Venkata Rao Infra Project Pvt Ltd managing director Prasada Rao said they will complete this stretch of 630 metres before the coming monsoon. “Nobody cooperated with us. That is the reason why the road was delayed. We are going out of our way to complete the project before the monsoon,” Rao said.
Some 50 per cent of the work of the concretization is completed, but the balance work is causing inconvenience not just to residents in the area but also to businesses on the stretch and traditional fishermen.
The construction work of this road commenced over 18 months ago, but its completion date has seen dozens of postponements. According to the locals the work assigning authority GSIDC (Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation) did not take the locals and the businessman community into consideration and they have been facing losses over two tourist seasons.
The access to jetty is presently open, but one cannot drive up to the jetty forcing tourists and locals to park their vehicles at NIO Circle and walk the 600 metres to reach the jetty. Along the way there are iron rods on both sides of the roads lying without any precautionary measures. There are a couple of gaps in many places between the roads and holes in the middle which may harm pedestrians on the way to the jetty.
Most businessmen from Dona Paula claim that 70% of their business has fallen since the road construction began. Locals remained without electricity and water for some days in the past weeks, which Herald has reported.
“Earlier on weekends we would be busy as thousands of foreign and domestic tourists would visit this place. Now even on weekends there are hardly any tourists here,” Jose Fernandes, a boat operator from Dona Paula said.
The manager of a hotel here said, “The occupancy during this season has dropped by more than 50% due to the access. Only old clients come but they have to face lot of hardships to reach the hotel.”
Also aggrieved are senior citizens who perhaps have the hardest time. “For the last one-and-a-half year we have been facing problems due to the construction of this road. We never expected this slow pace, not from this government. All the people living in this area have one request: give us our way,” said a senior citizen.
