Lead Article published in OHeraldo, 24 October 2022
The dangerous road conditions and the sharp rise in road accidents have been dominating the public debate in Goa for the last couple of months. The uneven road surface and the potholes menace during this monsoon season has probably been the worst in the history of liberated Goa. The Union ministry of road transport and highways (MoRTH) data shows that it is the nature of roads in Goa which account for one third of the accidents. While crores of rupees from the public exchequer are being invested into widening the roads in Goa, and particularly with the compromised engineering codes and poor construction quality, what is sooner than later going to haunt Goans and bleed the State’s treasury is the huge maintenance costs of these roads. The hoax behind the boastful claims of the government on its record breaking speed in road network construction in the country which matches international standards, on the pretext of drastically cutting travel time, stands amply exposed with the rise in fatal road accidents. Incidentally, more than reducing travel time these treacherous national highways are cutting short many people’s lives.
With an insensitive and arrogant political governance, in which contempt for participatory democracy is the new normal, the disregard for the environment and social impact of the national road projects, non-adherence to road design and engineering codes, and poor quality of construction are spelling horror for Goa and destroying the peace of Goans. The road alignments and economic policies imposed on people in a bid to appease certain business interests have invited misery for a tiny and highly ecologically fragile State like Goa.
The long hand extended for the ease of doing business has promoted the ease for doing nuisance by corporate showrooms and malls along the highways, while the road safety authorities look the other way for reasons which are obvious to the common man. The Goan people’s scarce and fertile land resources are grabbed for road widening with their right to life being taken for granted by the government. With the highways piercing through eco-sensitive zones and populated towns the daily life of the citizens has been severely impacted with rising pollution levels, floods, landslides and compromised road safety. With climate change and rise in non-judicious economic policies and infrastructure development the worst is yet to follow.
As usual the road authorities and the police resort to beating around the bush and pushing the blame for road accidents on the public instead of admitting serious policy blunders and road engineering blunders over the years. Rash and negligent driving is just a part of the cause for accidents, the worst part is the faulty design and damaged road surfaces due to poor maintenance. To cover up its failures the government washes its hands by blaming over speeding and drunk driving for the accidents. Erecting sign boards limiting speed every few kilometres and warning of ‘accident prone zones’ has been the easy route taken by the government. If the speed limit is curtailed to 40 and 50 kmph, which is the speed limit applicable for major district roads, how can these roads be declared as national highways which require a reasonable speed limit of at least 70kmph?
For citizens living along the national highways, even visiting relatives and accessing the markets for their daily needs in the same village has become a nightmare due to the absence of safe pedestrian ways and service lanes. The ‘right of way’ rule has given way to the desi culture of ‘might is right’ on roads and the ‘safe distance’ rule is as rare as safe health behaviours. The citizen who leaves home, particularly on a two-wheeler or on foot, has no guarantee of returning alive or with his/her limbs intact. Hit and run cases are on the rise because drivers with money power and political or police influence are confident that they can get away lightly with their criminality. Public order and safety are also on holiday in this tourist paradise of booze and make merry. With poor civic sense, an increase in anti-social behaviour and compromise in highway safety codes, the wide roads and more powerful vehicles have only become an invitation for disaster rather than progress. As the national highway pass through populated townships and punctured every few metres with arterial roads, in violation of the prescribed highway engineering design code, what can one expect if not accidents?
The Goa government is only making a mockery of the public under the pretence of organising open forums to discuss traffic management plans in the wake of alarming statistics on rise in road accidents and fatalities. A recent discussion in Panjim amply demonstrated that the ministers hardly have any respect for the public’s time; by arriving over an hour late and then taking the mike to market their achievements and disappearing when the actual discussions begin.
The open forums for discussions on road safety between the public and government need to start at the policy planning stage in every sector to prevent a crisis later, and not after the disaster has struck. There can be no lasting solutions to a crisis arising from development which has far exceeded the carrying capacity of this tiny State. Before rectifying the black spots in Goa’s road networks, there is probably an urgent need to tackle the black spots in the minds of the policy makers who shun and ridicule public opinion at the policy planning stage, and then cleverly play innocent and pacify the public with open forums to recommend solutions. Is the public so naïve to believe that the authorities responsible for road safety do not know the solutions?
(The author is a social activist)
https://www.heraldgoa.in/Edit/Opinions/Deadly-roads-reflective-of-antipeople-governance/195614
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