The government of Goa has elaborate plans to construct a flyover bypassing Siridao and Pale villages but the residents of these two villages are firm on their demand for the construction of an underpass at the National Highway (NH) 17.
People are demanding an underpass at least two meters wide which connects both the villages so that children and the elderly can cross the highway easily without fear or obstruction. Vehicles speeding down the stretch of road where the villages are located causes an apprehension amongst the residents. As many as 70 accidental deaths have occurred at the area in the past one decade.
“We don’t want an underpass where the government will have to spend crores of rupees. We just want a way to be able to cross the road and the government can afford to spend about Rs 50lakhs for this purpose,” said Anand Naik, a local resident.
The rising amount of traffic on the national highway in the past few years has made the situation worse, according to locals. At present, two cops have been stationed at the junction on either side of the road but it still becomes very difficult for pedestrians to get across the road.
Vasudev Kunkolienkar, Sarpanch of Siridao mentioned that there was no other solution other than constructing an underpass on this road. “We are not opposing the construction of the flyover proposed by the government. All we want is an underpass before the construction of the said flyover begins,” Kunkolienkar said.
He went on to say that the people are demanding the underpass even though the government has plans to construct the flyover. “It is for the safety of the children and the elderly living in both these villages,” he noted.
The bloackage of the NH17 on Sunday was a fall out of the anger of the villagers as many residents have met with accidents. Some of them have died while others remain handicapped, most of the villagers said, voicing their concerns.
Jagdish Bhobe, Sarpanch of Goa Velha Village Panchayat said that the issue of the underpass isn’t confined to just the villages of Siridao and Pale. “This is an issue of the entire locality and the traffic plying on the stretch,” he added.
“The problem with that junction is mainly the pedestrians. Both the villages are linked to each other for daily needs and are separated by just the national highway road. Construction of a flyover will not help to solve the issue,” Bhobe asserted.
