Team Herald
VASCO: With no respite from the scorching summer, it was yet another painful experience for those commuting along the Zuari Bridge-Cortalim junction stretch on Saturday as multiple accidents and a bus breakdown left them stranded for nearly 5 hours.
The motorists were subjected to dust pollution, scorching heat and the pain of waiting for hours for no fault of theirs.
When Herald spoke to few tourist taxi drivers, who were commuting from Vasco airport to North Goa with their guests, they said that it was unbearable for wait for so long in the sweltering heat and some of the tourists got annoyed to be caught up in the traffic jam.
Heramb, a commuter, was upset that he missed the wedding at Colvale in the
afternoon, and stressed the need for proper traffic management.
Speaking on the condition of anonymity, a policeman, who manning the traffic at the junction said, “Traffic congestion is taking place since 1 pm and we are trying our best to clear the traffic. More vehicles come from Loutolim, Verna, Vasco and Panjim and at the junction it takes time to manage the traffic during rush hours.”
When contacted, Traffic PI Vasco, Suraj Samant said “There was a minor accident on Zuari Bridge at around 11.30 am, which caused the traffic jam in the afternoon. Our policemen rushed to the spot and cleared the vehicle with the help of crane.”
He said, “Later in the afternoon, a Kadamba bus tyre burst further aggravated the situation. There was another accident which took place at 4 pm which further slowed the movement of traffic but we managed to clear the traffic and the vehicle from the spot with help of crane”.
When asked about the reason for the rush, Samant said, “With summer vacation already in, and on weekends there are a lot of tourists and locals commuting along the Zuari Bridge and Cortalim Junction stretch. The accidents, which took place, slowed down the movement of traffic.”
“I along with my team immediately rushed to the spot and since 3 pm we are managing the traffic. People should cooperate and wait for our instructions. But it’s sad that everyone tries to move ahead of each other and this leads to accidents, which in turn causes traffic congestion,” he added.
He said they are trying their best to ensure the smooth move of traffic as quickly as possible.
