The road widening of the NH17 from Panzorconi to Balli has been a bone of contention for authorities for the past quarter of a century.
Many governments in the last 25 years have discussed the need to extend NH 17. Experts have, in the past, proposed more than five alignments but all plans have been only on paper. The NH17 continues to be the same narrow road till today.
Everybody is passing the buck since there is opposition for road widening from Cuncolim to Balli. Who will make this dream come true, people still wonder as the question still remain unanswered.
Anyone, who has used the NH17, will definitely agree that this road is not fit to be called a National Highway. It is narrower than the local Manor District Road. The width of this road is supposed to be 45mts but this road is not even 15mts wide.
Due to bottleneck of traffic at the Cuncolim Market and Ballimath at Balli, the vehicular movement on this road goes out of gear. To make things worse, parking of vehicles at the Cuncolim market and at Balli put traffic congestion at its worst.
Heavy traffic and interstate transport vehicles complicate things. The pilgrimage at Fatorpa, six kilometres from Cuncolim, is one of the causes for traffic congestion. Thousands of devotees make the pilgrimage at Fatorpa to perform religious rites. Besides the local vehicles, the transporters entering the Industrial Estate and the Betul Bauxite site, use the same road. Due to the narrow NH17, all commuters are facing this traffic problem and wonder who will find solution for this mess.
There are four Secondary Schools, two higher Secondary Schools, one degree college and more than dozen primary schools in Cuncolim and one High School and one Higher Secondary at Balli. Thousands of students, teachers and parents use the NH17 daily to travel. All these commuters face problems in crossing the road at Cuncolim and at Balli because of the traffic congestion.
On Sundays and holidays one sees a serpentine queue of vehicles on both sides of the highway.
Traffic police are also not able to control the traffic jams. The Cuncolim bus stand which lies close to the NH17 is also a nightmare for the commuters.
The PWD was supposed to carry out the widening at the KTC bus stand. The acquired land, which belongs to Cuncolim Municipal Council, is gifted to the PWD for road widening but due to political intervention this work is also at a standstill.
The PWD was supposed to start road widening from Panzorconi but with the blessings from government and the politicians, Reliance Company has erected 4g mobile tower on the road side encroaching the Highway land. Some businessmen have also constructed shops on the NH 17.
All these constructions are carried out with the blessing of the government and politicians, sources say.
For the last 20 years many efforts have been made for widening of NH17. Former Congress MLA Joaquim Alemao made efforts to construct a bypass from Panzorconi to Balli. This alignment was accepted by majority since it was causing less damage to residential houses.
There are different views regarding the NH 17 road widening. Shop keepers from Cuncolim and Balli are objecting to the existing NH17 widening. The shop keepers claim that they will lose business and lose their daily bread if the width the NH 17 is extended to 45 metres.
Hundreds of houses and other constructions will also be demolished. They suggest the bypass plan which goes parallel to Konkan Railway be put into effect. Others suggest a speed limit at the market place while a few say a flyover from the Cuncolim market to Ballimath may be economically feasible. A road from the KTC bus stand via Bhuunsa to Balli, has also been suggested.
All the above are hypothetical suggestions. In reality only two solutions seem practical, residents feel. One is to widen the existing road and the other to accept the plan for a bypass.
Unfortunately no politician is willing to hurt their supporters and their vote bank. The bypass plan by Alemao was almost accepted but due to some last minute objections the former MLA withdrew his proposal. The present MLA Rajan Naik is also in favour of the bypass.
In the RP21, government has proposed two National Highways of 45 mts width in Cuncolim one existing NH17 and the other bypass proposed by the former Congress regime.
The Council has resolved to go for one highway which will cause less damage to residential houses.
