TEAM HERALD
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VASCO: SSC students answering their board exams at different centres in Vasco had a difficult time reaching their examination halls on Wednesday, after they were held up due to tarring of the highway from Headland Sada junction to Cine El-Monte Theatre.
Many students reached the school premises after exams had commenced and angry parents along with a school headmistress rushed to the Mormugao police station to lodge their strong protest against the road work during exams.
Barring a few students who managed to reach their examination centres just before the asphalting of the road could commence, most students had to walk through a heavy traffic jam to reach their examination centres.
The road from railway over bridge near IOC tanks Vasco to Headland Sada is the busiest road as it is used by heavy vehicles plying to the port and FCI godowns, besides city buses. To make matters worse, asphalting of the road, forced students travelling by cars and buses to abandon the vehicles midway and walk to their respective examination centres.
Some children were seen cutting across the traffic to reach their examination halls in time as the paper starts at 10 am and students are required to be inside the school campus by 9.30 am.
Noticing the difficulty faced by the students, some anxious parents went to drop their children on two-wheelers and later offered to transport other desperate students to their exam halls.
Many students reached their schools 10 minutes late and some were in tears as they had lost precious time. Two students, who were walking to the examination centre at Headland Sada, met with a minor accident.
The angry parents and a headmistress urged the Morumgao police inspector to direct the National Highway Authority to immediately stop the work and not to carry it out till the SSC exams are over.
Mormugao legislator and Power Minister Milind Naik who was reportedly apprised of the situation directed the Goa Board to allot 20 minutes grace time for all students answering their exams in Vasco and Mormugao.
