PONDA: Three bypass roads constructed on the outskirts of Ponda town two decades ago to divert NH 4-A traffic towards Margao, Belagavi and Panaji are fast becoming a triangular death trap as hundreds of goods trucks in search of parking spots make a beeline for this area, obstructing free vehicular movement and posing serious obstacles to motorists and pedestrians.
The town’s convenient location – it lies close to various industrial estates in the Ponda taluka and South Goa – and the absence of a dedicated terminus for heavy vehicles carrying goods to and from these estates has only exacerbated the problem.
Motorists frequently complain that some parked trucks take them by surprise when these large vehicles spring out of their spots to take a U-turn at a gap in the median of these bypass roads that connect Curti and Ponda, Bethora and Borim, and Dhavalim and Farmagudi.
They also say that the roads become even more treacherous during the monsoon as the thick mud tracks left behind by the trucks’ tyres coupled with slippery tarmacs are a recipe for disaster, particularly for two-wheeler riders.
While the issue often dominates gram sabha proceedings of the village panchayats of Kavlem, Curti-Khandepar and Bethora, the government has thus far turned a Nelson’s eye. Hapless citizens have been therefore forced to fend for themselves as they attempt to carefully weave through the menacing trucks on the bypass roads to avoid ending up as another number on the state’s road accident casualty sheet.
There are also apprehensions among local residents that these bypass roads could turn into business hubs catering to the transiting truckers, which in turn could attract a slew of illicit activity.
The truck drivers themselves complain that while they pay for parking along the bypass roads to entities they are unable to identify, there are no toilet or bathroom facilities in the area, prompting them to defecate in the adjoining shrubbery.
Underscoring the pressing need for a truck terminus, president of the Ponda Goods Transport Association, Firoj Khan, said Goa is the only state not having a single terminus. “It has been 25 years now that we’ve been demanding for truck terminuses. We were assured of one at Dharbandora, land was even identified, but there has been no progress after that. We have even discussed this truck-parking issue with chief minister Pramod Sawant and are hopeful of him resolving it,” Khan said.
Affected residents have, on their part, proposed truck parking facilities at each industrial estate if the establishment of a dedicated terminus is not feasible. “Trucks are an indispensable mode of transportation for the industrial estates, which is why it is high time that the government look into the matter and take policy decisions,” they say.
