BY JOSEPH PINTO | NT
PORVORIM
The Porvorim stretch of the National Highway 17 has become a nightmare for the motorists and especially the pedestrians. Several spots along the Porvorim stretch have become accident-prone in absence of zebra crossings for pedestrians and roundabouts. Many fatal accidents have occurred while pedestrians attempting to cross the road and overspeeding has become a kind of norm for the vehicles.
For instance, the spot near the Holy Family church has turned into a deathtrap with vehicles coming onto the main road from two sides. Crossing has become a risky affair at the spot and, although, traffic signals have been installed there, the situation has still not improved.
The residents of Salvador do Mundo, Britona, and defence colony used to face a harrowing time at the spot when they had to cross over to the other side to proceed towards the Chogm road. Now, although the situation has improved near the church spot, the danger of accident is still lurking in absence of a roundabout there.
Similarly, the motorists are complaining of the inconvenience at the O’Coqueiro junction due to blocking of one side of the roundabout from where vehicles used to proceed towards the Chogm road. Now, the motorists have to go upto the Mall de Goa junction and take right turn to go towards the Calangute side from the Chogm road.
It has been almost two-and-a-half years that the O’Coqueiro junction has been closed for vehicles coming from the internal B B Borkar road that connects to the national highway.
Of the traffic signals installed at the Holy Family church junction, the residents are of the opinion that the signals alone will not help in streamlining the traffic, especially the overspeeding menace. What is required at the spot urgently is a roundabout and zebra crossing especially in view of the church which is located just on the highway and that too a dangerous spot where scores of people cross the road either to go to church or catch a bus.
The spot has been nightmarish for senior citizens who go for daily mass at the church. They said crossing over to the other side is like life-risking as vehicles keep passing at high speeds. The locals say that the situation is chaotic during peak hours and during Sunday mass timings as vehicles are parked everywhere by those attending the mass.
The Catholic community also faces a lot of inconvenience during occasions like a funeral service as the cemetery is located on the other side of the highway.
The parish priest of Holy family church Fr Tomas Lobo said, “It is a matter of concern as most of our parishioners stay on the other side of the road. It was brought up in the parish council meeting and even a letter was written to the traffic cell. We even lost a parishioner while crossing the road.”
Aggrieved residents say that motorists have scant regard for the pedestrians at the church spot and the crossing has to be done by only taking a chance and with lack of traffic measures there the pedestrians are always at the receiving end.
The KTC depot road also witnesses congestion at the highway-connecting spot as several kiosks and shops have sprung up along the stretch. The traffic rush from this road also contributes to the chaos near the church spot.
The pedestrians say that a zebra crossing at the spot will be a big relief for them especially during peak hours as they won’t have to be at the mercy of the motorists. In absence of it, crossing has become a risk-taking affair. Also that most of the times, the traffic cops are not seen at the site, the pedestrians have to fend for themselves at the hazardous crossing.
Motorists say that the traffic signal installed at the end of the Kadamba depot road is above the normal view and, therefore, it becomes inconvenience in viewing the same. They said the height of this particular signal will have to be reduced for a better viewing position.
As per the residents, they had a series of meetings with traffic cell officials, deputy collector, PWD, sarpanchas and the local MLA at the collector’s office to discuss about these issues and seeking relief from chaotic traffic hazard.
Retd Brigadier Neves Braganza told this daily that the senior citizens are the one who face an uphill task while attempting to cross the road. A fatal accident had occurred on Christmas day and numerous minor accidents take place on daily basis, which go unreported.
He said that further to the meetings held with the collector, the latter had instructed the traffic police to open the blocked side of the O’Coqueiro roundabout for the convenience of the motorists at least on a trial basis, however, this has not happened till date.
He along with the senior citizens will again meet the collector and put forth their grievances.
Com John Gomes, another senior citizen from defence colony, said that it is not a traffic problem but an “administrative problem”. He said the traffic police are citing that congestion and chaos will occur at the site by opening the roundabout. However, the like-minded citizens feel that as there is a traffic signal near the O’Coqueiro roundabout the question of chaos and congestion does not arise.
Rajesh Amonkar, a businessman from Porvorim, said that the traffic police is playing with the lives of the people. “There is no pedestrian crossing signal near the Holy Family church, the internal road from the Kadamba depot side is narrow and so chaos is a regular predicament.”
Traffic cell in-charge PI Salim Shaikh said that it is not possible to open the O’Coqueiro circle for traffic as there will be more accidents. There will be long queues of vehicles leading to chaos.
Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte said that after installing traffic signals the situation has improved a lot and accidents have reduced. However, he said, one of the newly-installed signals at the Holy Family church site needs to be rectified as motorists are complaining that it is too high for normal viewing and the kiosks there are also a hindrance.
He further said that people’s cooperation is required to make the road safer by way of following traffic rules, also maintaining that police need to monitor the vehicular movement in order to curb accidents.
Regarding pedestrian crossing, he said the PWD (national highways) had called for tender thrice but no contractor came forward to undertake the work. Five places in Porvorim have been identified for pedestrian crossing, he said.
About the O’Coqueiro circle, he said that it has to be opened for the traffic. The collector had instructed the traffic police to do so on a trial basis but it has not happened so far, he said. Khaunte said that he will be meeting the DIG.