With the southwest monsoon set to hit Goa, the deplorable state of the State’s roads has already begun to surface, raising serious safety concerns. Across Goa, battered, potholed, and dug-up roads threaten to become death traps as the rains intensify—despite repeated directives from district Collectors banning road excavation during the monsoon.
Road stretches that should have been repaired in the dry season remain untouched, pointing to gross administrative negligence. In Mapusa, the road outside the Goa Football Association stadium in Duler stands as a stark example. A massive pothole lies directly in the path of oncoming vehicles, posing a constant threat of accidents. With authorities turning a blind eye, concerned citizens have taken it upon themselves to fill the pothole with plastic waste and erect a makeshift warning sign using sticks and a board.
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The situation is no better in Saligao, where the main road leading to Pilerne Industrial Estate—dug up for the second year in a row, this time for laying a 33KV power line—has been left in a muddy, hazardous state. Last year, it was the water resources department laying pipelines; this year, it’s the electricity department. Yet, resurfacing remains a distant dream.
Attempts to compact these dug-up roads during recent showers have failed miserably. With no plans in sight for hotmixing, residents are preparing for another monsoon season marred by slush, skidding, and suffering. In areas like Arpora and along the CHOGM road in Saligao, power line work has left roads cracked, broken, and unrepaired.
Despite grand announcements—such as Mapusa MLA Joshua D’Souza’s claim of ₹31 crore allocated for hotmixing—no patchwork or resurfacing work has been undertaken. On the ground, the reality is grim, and the promises ring hollow.
A senior PWD engineer, speaking on the condition of anonymity, admitted that the public would “just have to endure it,” citing incomplete contractor work and the outdated rationale that roads must “settle” during the monsoon before hotmixing. In an era of modern road construction technology, such reasoning feels not just obsolete, but dangerously dismissive.
As Goa braces for a wet season, its citizens are once again left navigating treacherous roads and empty promises.
