CANACONA: The treacherous terrain at Karmal Ghat has been in the news for the number of accidents.
It may be recalled that Herald had filed a report on the danger posed to drivers and locals. In the wee hours of last week, a mini pickup laden with chicken from Kolhapur was enroute to Canacona to deliver the same.
On reaching Karmal Ghat, an oncoming truck strayed onto the wrong side of the road after negotiating a sharp turn. In a bid to avoid collision with the truck, the pickup driver Mahadev Tambalakar lost control of the vehicle and dashed against the railing of safety crash guard.
Both the driver and cleaner escaped with minor injuries but the vehicle was damaged and the chicken landed into the deep gorge as the cage too was damaged in the mishap.
The national highway between Polem to Balli has deadly turns.
The trucks plying along this route are not acquainted with this stretch. The absence of signboards alerting drivers on speed limits has made this an accident-prone zone. There are many trees which are on the verge of uprooting along the stretch.
A few days ago the fire department at Canacona was informed of the danger as a branch was hanging precariously on another tree but the dept has no expertise or equipment to handle such situations.
Cutting branches and trees which pose a danger to the vehicles is a long process and mostly the file gets held up in different departments for various reasons.
Natividade D’Sa, a senior citizen and social activist from Canacona feels these trees could cause a serious accident and the Deputy Collector should, the head of Canacona disaster management team should issue orders to get these trees cleared on a priority basis before a major accident takes place along the stretch.
