PANJIM: People’s woes don’t seem to be ending as the condition of roads in the city continues to be poor state due to incessant digging for civic works under Smart City Mission.
One such road stretch is from St Inez road to Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) at Tonca and Caculo mall junction connecting Madhuban circle, which has turned dangerous for commuters due to this reason.
With monsoon nearing, the situation is only going to turn worse.
It is seen that while on one hand, the work to construct concrete roads and laying of sewer lines are still going on, on the other hand, on the same stretches traffic is moving both ways.
Construction materials are dumped and heavy machinery is also stationed along these road stretches hence there is very little space for the movement of traffic.
A large portion at Y-shaped intersection road near Sheetal hotel, has been excavated for the second time which is the prime reason for traffic congestion from all sides particularly during the peak hours. This particular section has not been barricaded by the contractor executing the work.
“We are seeing frequent accidents. Fortunately all have been minor accidents. Motorists are finding it difficult to manoeuvre through these road stretches particularly during the peak hours when there is high flow of traffic. This side, all road stretches are unsafe for bikers and also for pedestrians,” Rohit Shirodkar, a local resident said.
The stretches have been re-excavated at some of the points, which were restored earlier. The situation is going to turn worse in the monsoon, which is just days away, Puja Naik, a college student from Miramar said, adding that the government should reconsider its decision to continue Smart City works in the monsoon which is fast approaching.
“The road works are being executed in haste and haphazard manner endangering lives of people. Since there are no alternate roads, people are compelled to take these stretches where work is going on. These stretches are extremely dangerous for motorists,” Gauresh Tari, a local resident said.
Anisha Shaikh, who works as a salesperson in a shop in St Inez said that she is forced to park her bike near Goa College of Home Science and walk to the workplace as she finds it difficult to manoeuvre her bike through the excavated road stretch.
“I feel scared of falling in the excavated ditch. The excavated ditches are not properly barricaded and also there is every possibility of road caving in on these stretches. For my safety, I prefer walking rather than riding on these stretches,” Shaikh said.
