QUEPEM: Unregulated parking near the Tilamol junction, absence of zebra crossings, the convergence of fish vendors near the busy junction, and continuous movement of heavy vehicles have been keeping parents and students of a high school in the area on the edge. Certain that a calamity is imminent, they have called for the authorities to intervene and streamline traffic movement in the vicinity of the school.
Parents who have witnessed the immense risk that their children face as they step out of the Tilamol High School and onto the road, say that even traffic police personnel who are deputed to the area are unable to control the situation.
“It is a challenge to drop our children safely to school between 7 and 8 am and also to pick them up once school gets over between 1 and 2 pm,” says Fatima Faria. She has called for zebra crossings near the school on an urgent basis and a prohibition on the movement of heavy vehicles during school hours.
“An accident is waiting to happen there,” says Anita Oliveira, another parent. “Urgent attention is required from the Xeldem panchayat and the Quepem deputy collector’s office, considering that a major accident has occurred at the Tilamol junction in the past.”
When contacted, Quepem Traffic Cell incharge PI Manoj Mallik told Herald that a proposal for a zebra crossing near the Tilamol High School has been sent to the PWD’s executive engineer a week back.
Mallik also said that they have informed the Xeldem panchayat to move out the street vendors near the Tilamol junction as free flow of traffic is being hindered.
