PRATIK PARAB
The Kadamba Bus stand at Margao has gone from bad to worse in recent years both from inside as well as in its perimeters. The Margao Depot of Kadamba is in a dilapidated condition for several years now with the roof of restrooms leaking, canteen, offices and toilets too. The depot and the bus shed outside now wear a look of a dungeon.
Salcete Taluka and the people are known for being firebrands and very active when it comes to getting their basic rights. However, the biggest bus stand of South Goa and a link between North and South, the KTC bus stand is giving a wrong impression of the Margao town and of Salcete.
The Kadamba Bus Stand is the centre of South Goa public transport and receives the entire load of private and Kadamba buses. Thousands of travellers and tourists go through this bus stand to Panjim, Canacona and even to Metro cities of India. This brings in lot of tourists but sadly the bus stand has nothing worth remembering or worth looking up to. Complaints of Kadamba staff themselves of having suffered due to the lack of proper amenities have now reached the KTC Chairman Carlos Almeida. The KTC Chairman visited the Bus depot on Tuesday and held an inspection of the condition of the depot.
It was observed during the inspection that there was total absence of proper facilities for the staff itself. Sanitation problem was the highlight of the inspection. It was seen that the existing sanitation facilities, like toilets and washrooms at the Kadamba depot are in totally bad shape. There are 100’s of drivers and conductors who reside at the depot; eat, sleep and stay here every day. However, there is no respite from the bad condition of the rest rooms and toilets.
It was also observed that the canteen of the Kadamba depot of Margao too is in a bad state. The chairman also observed that the offices of Kadamba still have age old furniture and chairs which have not been replaced for decades. The overall cleanliness of the depot also has been observed to be an issue.
The Chairman of KTC, Carlos Almeida, said, “The Margao, Vasco and Panjim staff had given lot of complaints to the Corporation and the inspection was held to understand how to solve them. The issues of toilets, rest rooms and sanitation have been observed and we will quickly clear the problems of the staff,” said Carlos.
Carlos called it an interaction with the staff so that the situation is improved. Earlier City-based NGOs had highlighted the issue of flowing sewage from the canteen premises of the bus stand after which it was repaired and corrected. The KTC depot has now become even worse with infrastructure crippling every passing day.
The problem of garbage dumped by buses and passengers is also a major problem. All the garbage in the form of cups and plastic rappers is dumped in the corners of bus shed and is later swept by some workers and taken away. Surprisingly the entire garbage is taken and dumped in the open space besides the tourist bus stop and later burnt.
What is called a bus stand today is actually a bus shed which was constructed in the year 1992 and even after 24 years is in the same state. This bus shed lacks the most basic facilities for sanitation and garbage collection.
GoaCAN has been filing several complaints at the District Administration level and also to the KTC. Convenor of GoaCAN Roland Martin says, “The problem is that it is a shed which is considered to be a bus stand and the authorities are expected to find a permanent solution for this perennial KTC problem.”
The KTC bus stand is at present leaving an impression on the tourists of being the filthiest bus stand in South Goa and the menace is ever increasing. The trees alongside the KTC depot have grown above the limit and are creating lots of mess besides the streets.
The bus stand is in need of a complete overhaul as bus stands in Cuncolim and Canacona have been renovated long time back but the South District junction hasn’t seen the light of development.
