PONDA: The ongoing Navratri celebration has been posing a grave traffic problem at Goa’s temple town as devotees continue to flock to the shrines there to worship Goddess Durga.
The lack of parking provisions at each of the temples has only exacerbated the issue, leaving worshippers with little option but to park their vehicles on both sides of the narrow roads, severely restricting traffic flow and causing snarls that last for at least 30 minutes.
The Shantadurga Temple road at Kavlem is one such area where traffic jams have become the order of the day over the past week. With the traffic police at their wit’s end, local residents have themselves decided to pitch in to help streamline vehicular flow.
Among them is local youth Sanket Narvekar, who along with his peers, has been hard at work trying to keep the road at Kavlem clear.
Narvekar, who said he has decided to do this as a service to God, pointed out that despite there being traffic police personnel posted at the site, congestion continues to occur throughout the day as several temples are located in proximity to one another. Even emergency vehicles such as ambulances are caught in the snarls, he said.
Nearby Marcaim together with Kavlem host some of the State’s most famous temples, including Shantadurga, Kapileshwari, Ramnath, Nagesh, Mahalaxmi, and Navdurga. Unfortunately, barring the popular Mangueshi Temple, none has adequate provisions for parking.
Exasperated locals have now demanded that special parking facilities be provided henceforth by the management of each temple during Navratri.
