Nuvem’s chock-a-block junction

The story titled ‘Nuvem’s chock-a-block junction’ (Herald, November 2) has highlighted very rightly the issues that need to be addressed via proper planning and scientific execution of our roads. It has been seen from my decade-long observations that the relevant administrative sources have not bothered to tackle these issues in proper perspective as there is no discipline in our traffic enforcement system. Everybody comes hurtling towards the town from Panjim, Verna etc. and it looks like a four or six lane highway wherein the two-wheelers, cars, buses and commercial carriers (trunks, tankers, commercial cargo vehicles) all go headlong trying to penetrate every possible nook and crevice leaving no space for the many pedestrians in the village or even a wee passage for the vehicles coming across from Margao proceeding to Nuvem, Majorda or Panjim.

Per chance, a hapless accidental or medical emergency victim is at the receiving end as there is one miserable police sometimes two, facing each other at a junction trying their level best with their limited wits to regulate the scenario.

Thanks to the automobile boom, everyone thinks that the roads ought to be wider but the rider or the driver of the automobile ‘boom’ era have their mental spaces narrowed down to that of capillaries. Had the traffic department deployed a few extra officers for even half an hour for a given time period, there would have been better discipline and control. But alas, I only see a couple of cops every 20 metres when political heads are to traverse this stretch. 

Secondly, like how Vincent Fernandes has pointed out, the road going to Raia, Manora is indeed dangerous because one may have to drive on the precipice of the road lest he falls on someone’s rooftop for lack of safety railings that may have been handy for someone to hang on to for dear life.

The cutting of bushes and shrubs behind the cemetery is not a solution. The secretary of the Panchayat is at sea as there is no sense of purpose or direction to his comment and the mix up of Western Expressway Bypass being constructed on a war-footing does not really affect any change in the scene at the moment. I feel there ought to have been a proper scientific and technical angle from which a proper solution could have been made possible instead of taking lay opinions of people who do not have any road engineering skill or traffic management study or expertise. 

Hope your correspondent does a bit better recce and helps to bring about the much needed good sense to prevail in our communities for a better planned road network.