The much talked about Miramar-Dona Paula road is once again in a mess with several manholes, cracks being developed posing serious threat to the commuters, especially at night and the monsoons.
The road, which costs over Rs 72 crore, in a bid to provide commuters a smoother and safer ride, defeated the purpose. At present it is in a very bad shape with bumpy rides, manholes that have come off or are not properly placed, huge iron projections and holes on the footpaths, making it difficult for the travellers.
As Team Herald inspected the stretch from Miramar to NIO Circle extending also to Raj Bhavan the situation stood exposed. “The manholes covering the sewage system and installed at many places in the centre of the road are dangerously breaking or coming off and are of different types. Sometimes they come off at nights and endanger the lives of travellers due to the open hole in the centre of the road,” said a local resident Anand Madgaonkar.
Moreover, the entire stretch of the road is without street lights making travelling at night hazardous. The people crossing the road are also at risk.
Two-wheeler riders have also expressed dissatisfaction stating that it can lead to accidents especially in the rainy season as one cannot see the manholes after the road is submerged under water which can make situations even more dangerous.
“The road itself is a death trap. Since its inception the road has always been in the limelight for all the wrong times. The manholes are extremely dangerous as they can cause accidents. The two-wheeler riders especially cannot see the open manholes which are submerged under water. It’s high time the authorities act,” said Dinesh Waikar, a resident of Miramar.
When contacted, Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC) Chairman, Deepak Pauskar, said “I was not aware about this. I will immediately inform the contractors to take stock of the situation there”.
GSIDC had awarded the entire contract for Rs 72.59 crore to M V Rao. The contractor had commenced the work in February 2014 for which the GSIDC had initially given him a deadline of 18 months to complete the project. However, it missed many deadlines and was finally thrown open to public on August 22, 2016.
Another resident of Caranzalem, Darshan Sardesai, had this to say, “The hot-mixed road was far better than the existing concrete road which has already developed cracks. The government should have focused on the traditional hot mix method rather than the concrete.”
