The residents of Sal and commuters who travel to this border village have expressed inconvenience as there are no street lights for about a 5-km stretch covered with dense vegetation.
It may be stated that there are no houses for about 5-kms from Wadaval to Sal and as the evening falls the commuters have to face inconvenience as there are no street lights on this road.
“It is difficult to enter Sal village at night, especially when a person is coming all alone. There is always danger of wild animals crossing the road,” Ramesh Gawas from Wadaval.
People from this area recall several instances when accidents have occurred and motorcycle riders were seriously injured. “A villager was injured once when he was travelling to Sal during night. A monkey jumped over his motorcycle and he fell down and had to be admitted to the hospital,” Gawas recalls.
It is not just the threat of the monkeys but also wild boars, bisons and other animals whose presence is felt in this area. “Bisons and wild boars are really dangerous as they come in groups. If a motorcyclist comes in their way it won’t be possible for him to go unhurt,” Gawas claims.
There are many electricity poles along the road but without any street light installed on them. “As there are no street lights while coming to Sal many get injured after a fall on the road. We have already told the ministers and the department to install street lights on this road,” said Sal sarpanch Prakash Raut. “There has been no action on this and people are faced to enter this village in darkness,” he added.
Soma Raut claims that he has been following this issue since last many years but no one is paying heed to this. “For the last five years we are demanding street lights from Wadaval to Sal but the government is not bothered about this. There are many from the village who come to Sal after their day’s work at Amona, Panjim and other places. There are sizeable number of villagers who are in police service and return after their night duty. There are not just bisons and wild boars but also leopards and other such big cats in the area,” claims Raut.
The villagers have therefore demanded street light be installed on this stretch of road.
