SANTOSH NAIK
Living and moving around in Borim village of Shiroda constituency in Ponda taluka used to be a convenient option, given the strategic location of the Borim Bridge which connects North and South Goa.
All that changed when the government prohibited heavy vehicles from plying along the Zuari Bridge. As a result, heavy traffic was diverted along the Borim Bridge and with the growth of heavy vehicles, moving along a 2-km stretch of road passing through the village is now a nightmare.
Frequent traffic jams make it difficult for villagers during emergency situations, such as shifting patients for medical attention.
Speaking to Herald, Borim Sarpanch Sanjay Gavde said the village has been facing various hardships ever since heavy traffic began passing through the village in large numbers.
“The villagers face difficulty due to the continuous flow of highway traffic passing along the village,” said Gavde. “Borim Bridge is also under pressure since heavy vehicles were stopped from travelling along the Zuari Bridge at Cortalim since the past few years.”
“This road has become important, as traffic connecting north and south Goa plies along this road. Heavy interstate vehicles from Karnataka, Karwar and Belgaum transport goods to industrial estates at Marcaim, Bethora, Kundaim and other industrial estates in Goa pass through the village,” Gavde said.
“But the problem is, traffic movement is slow and speeding heavy vehicles have been posing a great threat to two-wheeler riders and pedestrians. At some places, the heavy traffic makes it impossible for pedestrians to even cross the road. A number of fatal mishaps have occurred along this stretch of road at Borim.”
“The locals had discussed the issue in the Gram Sabha and we are in the process of short-listing solutions to this problem. As of now, the only two options to resolve this issue are to construct a bypass and to build a new parallel bridge to reduce the pressure on the existing Borim Bridge,” Gavde said.
“In order to solve the traffic problem, a 1-km stretch of road from Top Cola Borim to Sakhwar-Borim can be widened and a survey is already taking place in this regard. However, road widening of the next 1 km is a problem, as there are a lot of roadside houses at Sakhwar-Borim. The only way out is to construct a bypass to connect the road and the bridge from a bandhara in the fields.”
“In any case, we need to take the people into confidence and to assure them that we will not demolish houses while widening the road or constructing a bridge,” assured Gavde.
“We have discussed the problem with Shiroda MLA Mahadev Naik and he is aware of the problem,” said the sarpanch.
When contacted, local MLA Mahadev Naik said he is aware of increasing traffic in Borim village.
“I will try my best to solve the problem. Regarding a parallel bridge or a bypass road, I can comment only after a proper study of these options. It would not be proper for me to make hasty comments on this important issue,” said Naik.
