This story is from August 9, 2019

Heavy rain exposes shoddy road works in Panaji

Heavy rain exposes shoddy road works in Panaji
400 words plus pics by Raj
Panaji: Four days of incessant rain has exposed the superficial roadwork undertaken by civic bodies in the capital city.
The torrential downpour has crumbled parts of the D B marg and roads of Patto and Panaji, making commute from the KTC bus stand to the Miramar circle a nightmare for motorists.
While most of the other roads have been laid overtime, citizens are aghast at the freshly tarred stretch near the Heera Petrol pump, in Panaji that has already developed potholes.
A gaping crater at the very entrance of the Patto plaza has also left motorists baffled.
“I rode into a pothole in Panaji which punctured my two-wheeler’s tyre unbeknownst to me. After about a kilometre of riding, my bike started swaying. That is when I realised what had happened. There was a lot of traffic that day and anything could’ve happened had I not been able to control my bike,” a professional from Panaji said.
“My car was stuck in one such pothole near Bal Bhavan, Campal. I called the Bal Bhavan staff to help me pull the car’s tyre up. Though they were kind enough to assist me despite the rain, it is really the job of the civic bodies to ensure that civilians are not inconvenienced. Such potholes are a danger to motorists,” a resident of Old Goa said.

Road safety activist Roland Martins said that there is no post-maintenance of roads after they’re tarred.
“One can talk about the quality of the work. But the monsoon by itself have always affected roads. There is a need for something called pothole management. It requires attention more than just workmanship. The matter will be raised at the state road safety council meeting this month,” he said.
He further added that the Goa Consumer Action Network has submitted a representation to the commissioner with copies marked to the North Goa collector, SP traffic and civic bodies urging them to look into the timely maintenance of roads.
Sources from the PWD said that they have been filling up the potholes as a temporary measure, but it doesn’t last since it’s washed off when there is heavy rain.
“The intensity of rain has been very strong in the past few days. We will do the roads only once the rain subsides. We are ready with immediate solutions, but we must get a dry spell for it to work. For permanent solutions, we must wait for monsoon to end to do the things properly,” an official said.
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