By MINOO FERNANDES
MARGAO: An up-to-date network of all roads, national highways, state highways as well as internal roads, is desirable by one and all. For the state of Goa, an excellent network is absolutely necessary as agriculture, industry and tourism depend on the quality of roads.

The state depends on the roads for almost all its needs of industry and tourism. The opinion of many of the tourists points out to a less than satisfactory network of roads, especially in the villages and coastal areas. The roads have been an issue for many years now and it would not be proper to place the blame at the doorstep of the present administration, as even previous administrations have failed to give the citizens proper and comfortable roads to travel on.
Mr Lester Mascarenhas, a villager from Benaulim said that the vehicle owners pay the road tax so that they can get good roads. “Why then do we see the roads with so many potholes? This is not a problem associated only with the monsoons, as during the entire year the roads are plagued with large potholes that makes motoring a nightmare.”
Mr Martin Gomes, a villager from Colva said that the conditions of the roads, especially in the coastal areas has not improved over the years; in fact it has become worse with illegal encroachments. He said the bad roads in the coastal areas of Salcete discourage a lot of tourist from visiting the sites of tourist interest.
Villagers in Majorda, Colva, Betalbatim, Benaulim, Seraulim and Navelim were of the opinion that the roads have not seen much improvement over the years. They said that the number of vehicles have increased ten fold, but the roads have gone from bad to worse.
The villagers are not happy with promises that they have been hearing for decades. Mr Salelkar from Colva said that the condition of the road connecting his village to Margao, particularly at Mungul, is so bad, that one cannot use a vehicle there.
It may be recalled that recently the residents of Majorda planted coconut samplings in the potholes, in the middle of the road near the railway level crossing. Mr John Mendes a resident from Majorda disclosed that this was done to draw the attention of the authorities concerned to repair the roads as soon as possible.
Villagers said that they understand the difficulty of repairing the roads during the monsoons; however, they said the least that can be done is fill up the potholes that are getting bigger by the day.
PWD authorities said that the department is aware of the issue and added further that the potholes are being filled up wherever they are seen. An official informed that road rollers have been dispatched to level the roads properly in some of the villages where potholes are large.
As a matter of fact, one such road roller was seen doing such work at Majorda on August 17. Some sarpanchas like the Cavelossim sarpanch, Mr Edwin Barreto, said that generally roads get spoiled during the monsoons, and added that the main road leading to the airport or the one leading to Margao city from Cavelossim is quite good. He said internal roads should be done in the manner these two roads are built, after all the cost is the same he said.
Similar views were also expressed by quite a few elected representatives who did not want to come on record. However, it was felt that whenever the roads are done up, they should be done in such a manner that accidents are minimized and the driving/riding comfort enhanced. They also said that proper road signs should be installed so that the tourist who visits the state does not have too much trouble getting to his destination, be it holiday or work.