The Porvorim-Panjim road has become one of the worst roads in Goa, thanks to the unending traffic and bad state of the road. Café interacts with those who are affected by this traffic on an everyday basis to get their take on this issue
By | 12 Oct, 2016, 04:41AM IST
As Archa Karande from Ribandar gets ready to leave the house to travel to college, which is in Assagao, the thought of getting stuck for hours on the Panjim-Porvorim road dreads her. Despite leaving the house much earlier than required, in order to skip the traffic, the fear of reaching late for class is still there. “Being caught in traffic gets very frustrating as we are in a hurry to reach our destination in time. It’s also mentally tiring. Cursing all the time, traffic worsens our mood and we just lose all patience to pay attention in class after such a long journey,” Archa complains.
Travelling on the Porvorim-Panjim road, especially at the peak hours of the day, is no less than a nightmare. Especially for those who travel every day, the jams are not just tiring, but frustrating as well. And on Monday, the traffic jam just broke all its previous records, lasting for hours. The heavy traffic caused due to an accident that took place on the road early morning and the sudden rainfall added to people’s Monday blues, causing quite a rage amongst the public. This particular stretch of road is a very important one as it connects Mapusa and the whole of North Goa to the capital city. A number of working people and students have to pass this road every day, and the increasing traffic on this road is giving headaches to all of them.
Actress Meenacshi Martins, who is a resident of Porvorim, finds the traffic “horrible and disturbing”. The road from Porvorim to Panjim, she says, was always a busy one, but now, the traffic has worsened. “On Monday, I had a very important event to attend in Panjim. The situation on the road was so bad that despite leaving much earlier from my house, I reached around 30 minutes late. It was very embarrassing as I had to keep everyone waiting. Moreover, traffic also gives way to road rage and fights as people are already frustrated and impatient. That further leads to loss of time,” she expresses, hoping that when the new overbridge comes, it would ease the traffic.
It’s the students and the working people who have to travel on this road every morning and evening who are most affected. Amruta Joshi from Corlim, who takes the road in question every day to travel to college, states, “Being stuck in a traffic jam messes up your schedule. Once your plans get delayed in the morning it is very likely that the rest of the day would not go as planned. Even in the evening when we are going home, we are already very tired after a whole day of lectures. Getting stuck in traffic at such a time makes us even more exhausted and bored. That in turn makes studying difficult.” Vailankani D’Silva from Mapusa shares a similar story: “I travel to my workplace in Panjim by bus. Since it’s difficult for a bus to manoeuvre in traffic, it takes even longer. So while the distance between Mapusa and Porvorim is covered in hardly 15 minutes, it takes more than half an hour to get from Porvorim to Panjim, which is actually a shorter distance. So even if I leave early from my house, I still reach late due to the unpredictable traffic.”
Darryl Rodrigues, a musician from The Syndicate Band Goa, says that he always makes it a point to leave his house a lot early, as he dreads getting stuck in traffic on this road. “Leaving early seems like the only way to reach in time,” he maintains. Traffic doesn’t only cause frustration and delay, but also mental fatigue. “Driving or riding in traffic is too tiring, especially before a show. Firstly, it’s the traffic. Then, we are worried about making it to the destination in time. All this is not just irritating, but very stressful,” he opines. He feels it’s the construction work of the bridge that is responsible for the increasing traffic.
As she talks about spotting a greater number of tourist vehicles on the road, Meenacshi suggests that the increasing tourist activity, especially during the long weekends like the recent one, is one of the main causes of traffic jams. “As I was stuck in traffic on Monday, I could see a number of vehicles either with yellow number plates, or belonging to neighbouring states. I know that such scenes are irritating for the tourists as well, but it’s the local commuters who are the most affected by these. We are working people and we can’t afford to lose so much time in traffic every day. It’s uncalled for. Tourism is very important, no doubt, but who is going to compensate for our lost time? Some alternative has to be found and implemented to make this situation better,” she concludes
oHerald, 12th Oct. 2016
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