PONDA: Local panchayats having jurisdictions along the bypass roads of the national highway in the Ponda taluka have begun designating the roadsides as no-parking zones for the safety of citizens using the roads.
The move, however, has wedged truckers heading to or from the Bethora industrial estate between a rock and a hard place.
With no-parking signage erected at their usual slots along the NH bypass roads and in the absence of a dedicated truck terminus, they are left with no suitable spots to park their large goods carriers.
It is not uncommon to see trucks lined up along the three bypass roads in Ponda, not only obstructing the view of other motorists but also threatening to cause serious accidents due to their sudden manoeuvres onto the road and off of it.
Two village panchayats – Curti-Khandepar and Kavlem – have already taken measures to disallow trucks from parking by the roadsides. If the third affected panchayat, Bethora, also follows suit, the trucks – which come in from various parts of the country – may have nowhere to park.
There is, incidentally, a growing demand by the villagers of Bethora to designate the flanks of the bypass road within its jurisdiction as no-parking zones due to several accidents already having occurred on the Bethora-Borim stretch.
President of the Ponda Truck Transport Association, Firoj Khan, said that the absence of a truck terminus in the area has forced drivers of large goods carriers to park by the sides of busy roads in the taluka. “We’ve been demanding for a truck terminus for more than two decades. We also recently met with chief minister Pramod Sawant and transport minister Mauvin Godinho, both of whom have assured a solution. Now, we have to wait and watch,” Khan said.
