Team Herald
CUNCOLIM: The stretch of National Highway 66 in Cuncolim’s Panzorconim area has for the past five years doubled up as an illegal terminus for trucks and container lorries, much to the chagrin of locals, who call it a death trap.
Despite repeated complaints to every authority possible – the police, the Regional Transport Office (RTO), the local municipal council and the MLA – the highway near the Shantadurga Petrol Pump remains clogged with heavy vehicles, with up to 50 trucks parked on the highway at night time.
What’s even worse is that this unofficial truck pit-stop does not have the facilities required by long-distance truck drivers; as a result, locals also have to put up with public urination and open defecation in the area, which is turning into a health hazard.
Tired of dodging the trucks on a daily-basis, Cuncolkars allege the presence of a ‘parking mafia’ that collects money from the drivers of the inter-state container vehicles to ‘allow’ them to park on the stretch, and distributes a share to the local police and civic authorities, to look the other way. Residents claim that at least four people have died in road accidents caused directly or indirectly by the parked trucks, and countless others have been injured, over the past five years.
“Big lorries and container vehicles park on either side of the highway, and at the petrol pump all through the day, and even more arrive at night. This illegal truck terminus has made our lives very difficult. The RTO has declared this area an accident-prone zone, but the authorities are somehow still allowing this public nuisance to go unchecked,” said Sudhakar Gaonkar, who lives nearby.
Apart from interstate vehicles, trucks from the Konkan Railway’s Logistic Park also halt at Panzorconim, adding to the confusion on the busy stretch.
Three years ago, the Cuncolim Civic and Consumer Forum along with traffic cops, local police and RTO staff, had inspected the stretch and made note of the illegal parking issues, promising to put an end to the highway being used as a terminus.
“No such action was taken, and the situation remains the same. The authorities are very diligent in punishing those riding without helmets and driving without seatbelts. When will they wake up to the danger of these parking illegalities?” a senior citizen from Panzorconim questioned.
He further said “The truck drivers say that they have no other place to park. There is an urgent need for a truck terminus at Balli, close to the Konkan Railway Logistics Park. We appeal to MLA Yuri Alemao to look into this matter, and put an end to this parking nuisance immediately.”
