PRATIK PARAB
pratik@herald-goa.com
MARGAO: The sides of the National Highway 4A, from Damodar Sal to Old Market area, which is a stretch with heritage houses on either side, and the road from South Goa Collectorate to Goa Rajee Honda Junction, have been long ignored by the Highways Division of the PWD.
This has now invited criticism from the local people and commuters, who say these road stretches haven’t been looked after by the authorities for decades leading to several pedestrians and vehicles in thousands being inconvenienced.
The stretch of road, which begins from Damodar Sal in Comba and goes up till the Old Market has been tarred regularly but has been sadly left undeveloped on the sides creating deep drains and trenches making it dangerous for pedestrians and for vehicles too.
Rachol Souza is a resident of the area of Comba, which has an enormous heritage value. However, the NH 4 road stretch, which leaves from the town and goes towards Old Market, has been successively ignored by the PWD Roads Division for decades. “The road may be tarred and is smooth but what about the height given to the road? My father is a senior citizen and for him to walk by the road or even enter and exit the house at times becomes so difficult that we now prevent him from going out,” said Souza. “Thousands of vehicles travel on this road, making it highly dangerous for the people and also the advocates from the JMFC courts to walk by,” Souza added.
Advocate Joel Fernandes who is a frequent traveller on the road said, “Can’t believe it is a National Highway and unbelievable how PWD ignores such important stretches of roads. This amounts to criminal negligence as the nature and amount of accidents on this stretch are frightening.”
In addition to this, the road from the Collectorate complex till the Goa Rajee Honda showroom is another stretch that has been ignored by the PWD Highways Division. “This road is narrow and has a huge load of traffic. There are two-metre shoulders on this road, which have been lying undeveloped,” said Johnny Crasto a former councillor and resident of the area.
“This road now is dangerously narrow and waiting for a major accident to happen,” warned Johnny.
The PWD Highways Division has been criticised for the failure to develop these roads even after several representations and complaints from concerned locals.
