THOMAS FERNANDES
CALANGUTE
The Circle of Dreams, an ambitious project initiated by Calangute MLA Michael Lobo at Nagoa, has been embroiled in a circle of tangles since its inception.
What was meant to be a project to streamline traffic and reduce road mishaps has ended up causing all sorts of problems, including the delayed completion of the project, potholes at the site, shops along the road-widened areas and vehicles parked along the busy road.
The ‘Circle of Dreams’ is full of potholes and they are yet to be repaired despite assurances by Lobo. Instead of facilitating traffic, the project has posed a threat to motorists due to huge potholes, uneven road, dust and crude dividers in the form of empty barrels.
Many have fallen off their vehicles due to potholes and unhappy motorists have been left wondering the reason for the delay in repairing the potholes.
Adding to the problem, shops that began as temporary structures have now become permanent structures and vehicles have begun parking along road-widened areas.
“The contractor had assured Calangute MLA Michael Lobo that potholes would have been filled for the safety of motorists. But the potholes are still unattended and they are posing a threat to us motorists. The potholes could have been filled to provide temporary relief,” said Yeshwant Palyekar.
Calangute Panchayat and local leader Joseph Sequeira was vocal in his criticism of the project.
“I have been travelling regularly along the road and the Circle of Dreams project, which was initiated to save lives of motorists. Now, it looks like that the project was done to benefit a select few.”
“There are shops along the road-widened areas and vehicles are being all along the road which has defeated the very purpose of savings lives. The Calangute MLA demolished shops at Calangute as they were along the road-widening areas, so why are there double standards on illegal constructions along the road between Nagoa and Parra,” asked Sequeira.
Unfazed by the criticism, Lobo was confident that the Circle of Dreams project will be a reality soon.
“The project was delayed due to unforeseen reasons. We have decided to shift the chambers and water pipelines supplying water to Calangute and surrounding villages to avoid problems in the future,” said Lobo.
“The work to shift the pipelines and the chambers have been taken up and it will be completed in a couple of days. The PWD engineers and others have been working overtime, even at night, to carry out the required jobs,” informed Lobo.
“Once the road is hot mixed and completed in all respects, no parking will be allowed along the roads. The dividers will take care of roadside parking, as one will be compelled to remove their vehicles parked along the road,” he said.
“As for the shops, we had to compensate the paddy fields owners, as they sacrificed their land for the road-widening project,” said Lobo.
