Heavy traffic to Ponda taluka’s three major industrial estates and limited parking facilities has forced trucks to line up along the three major bypasses in Ponda, severely restricting the width of the roads and posing a major hazard to motorists.
The demand for a full-fledged truck terminus has been going on for nearly two decades, even as attempts were being made to prevent trucks from travelling along busy routes in and around Ponda town.
In the absence of a truck terminus, truck drivers and cleaners live by the roadside and end up defecating in the open, causing a nuisance to the locals.
Some years ago, trucks transporting industrial goods and raw material would park in Ponda town and at Tisk-Ponda. But with the construction of three bypasses along the Curti-Borim, Curti-Ponda and Farmagudi-Dhavali routes, the trucks have shifted to these bypasses, shifting the problem, but not resolving it.
Truck drivers claim that in the absence of a truck terminus, they have no option but to find any available open space to park their vehicles.
“Many times, we are unable to unload the raw material in the company’s premises, because there are other trucks offloading their cargo. As a result, we have no option but to wait for two to three days in nearby areas,” Kallappa, a truck driver from Karnataka, said.
Ramkrishna Sudin Dhavalikar, PWD minister in the Manohar Parrikar government, had recently announced the four-laning work of two bypasses along the Dhavali-Farmaguda and Curti-Ponda routes.
Aware that interstate trucks would have no place for parking facilities in Ponda, the Ponda Muncipal Council (PMC) recently passed a resolution to set up a truck terminus project at Bethora and surrounding areas by acquiring around 1 lakh square metres of land.
Elaborating on the project, PMC Councillor Venktesh Naik said that Deputy Chief Minister Francis D’Souza had advised them to go ahead with the proposed truck terminus.
“The minister had told us to set up the project by acquiring land at any panchayat area as PMC’s jurisdiction is small and there was no land for such a project. If all process and formalities are completed, the PMC will lay the foundation stone for the project by December-end,” Naik said.
“When this project is completed, all transport offices in Ponda town will be shifted to this truck terminus, which would have lodging and canteen facilities for all truck drivers.”
“The truck terminus will also generate revenue to PMC, besides providing employment to local youth by engaging their goods rickshaws to transport goods to and from the truck terminus. One thing is sure, no truck will be allowed to park or remain in Ponda town once the truck terminus is completed,” the councilor added.
