Team Herald
MAPUSA: The three-year misery of the residents of Calangute coastal belt has finally ended and the place is gearing up for the coming Christmas season with widened and freshly hot-mixed roads.
With numerous potholes, every road in this beach belt was in a bad state due to the sewerage project — completed recently after a long delay — making life miserable for the locals as well as the thousands of tourists who visited the beaches there.
The bad roads not only caused misery to the locals and the visitors, but also frequent traffic jams and congestions. Just to avoid a bumpy ride, the locals used to even take a detour to reach their destinations. The bad roads were also responsible for many minor and fatal accidents.
But now, with all the roads widened and hot mixed in Candolim and Calangute; and the ones at Baga under hot-mixing which is expected to be completed by the end of this week, this beach belt is ready to welcome tourists this Christmas season.
“The roads are in a better condition now. They are now widened and hot mixed which is helping smooth movement of traffic. Before the hot mixing and widening, even walking on the road was a problem,” a local said.
Nicholas Fernandes, a local said, “Three months ago the condition of roads in Calangute was very bad, but now the roads are hot mixed and are in a good condition. Hot mixing the roads before Christmas is good decision taken by the government.”
“Since last two years the roads in Calangute were only being repaired, but this year, the work of sewerage has been completed and the roads are properly hot mixed. The widened roads have made more space available for parking,” said another local.
Calangute MLA Michael Lobo said, “Lot of people suffered due to the bad condition of roads. Besides, business men, tourists – both domestic and foreign – also faced lot of hardship. However, the bad road did not discourage the tourists from visiting the beaches, which is a vindication that these beaches are prominent.”
“The sewerage work was a need for Calangute and Baga. Now since the sewerage work is completed, for the coming Christmas and New Year, we have already hot mixed and widened roads which allow smooth movement of vehicles,” Lobo added.
