Expressways Not For Goa
As usual, while browsing through the news papers of today, I came across a numbers of headlines pertaining to the same subject, namely the National Highway. One was, "Highway meet at Margao today, Churchill cries foul", another, "Mapusa MLA slams government over highway widening" further "NGO's back demand for realignment of highways" yet another "NH expansion rocks Corlim meet". Isn't it funny and ironic that Ali Baba and his forty thieves still claim that they are doing the will of the people and Ali Baba himself claims, his is the Aam Aadmi government ? Who are these people who are objecting ? How on earth does the Aam Aadmi government fail to recognize the factual Aam Aadmi, crying at the top of his voice asking for retribution? The politicians themselves suffer from blinding disorders, and they inflict breathing problems on us Goans. We have failed to immune ourselves against these distorted infections by our willful acceptance of the charades for a long time and our enthusiasm to bring about a change in governance is like the enthusiasm of a cadaver. There is no doubt that the improvement in the road network is a necessity especially the main arteries but do we Goans really need a 6-lane expressway ? Why not expand the existing roads where ever possible and build a one way bypass where there is a congestion of dwellings, widening of the present roads and the one way bypasses would more than handle the increasing Goan traffic but for this to work we need governance that is committed to work for the betterment of the people without destroying them, their dwellings and their livelihood. We should all work together to improve infrastructure facilities with as little destruction as possible where it's unavoidable, of land, houses and environment. A 6-lane or a 8-lane expressway is not feasible for Goa, being a small state land availability is sparse and all the land scams like SEZ, CRZ, Industrial Zones, sale of communidade land, squatting migrants and mega projects have put additional pressure on this valuable and most sought comodity. We Goans do not need to use the expressway to shuttle up and down at breakneck speed, it will be mainly used by the money bags from Maharashtra and Karnataka to zoom through Goa, so why should we sacrifice our land and our homes for their joyrides ? Just expand the present highways to 4 lanes with a divider in between where ever possible and a one way bypasses where required and it should suffice the needs of Goans. Most of the present roads are in dilapidated conditions, if our PWD cannot maintain our present roads, how will it be able to take care of expressways ? I had the misfortune of driving to the Margao railway station on more than one occasion while in Goa and the state of the roads was appalling, potholes like craters along with back and neck breakers, no, I am not talking about the speed breakers. Even the road leading to the station is in atrocious condition. This route is used by thousands of people including tourists in a day and does not look good for Goa, it only reflects the apathy of the PWD towards maintenance of roads, if roads leading to our main landmarks are in such extremely decrepit condition what about the interior roads ? The road from the railway bridge to Navelim Church is another backbone rattler. The underpass at Comba is another classic example, slight rain and it's becomes a pool and when there is no water one has to drive over a pile of rubble that looks like the remains of a demolished structure in a war zone, we have already lost one valuable young life in that area not too long ago and are waiting for more to happen. People traveling on Betul Agonda road could get their jaws dislocated with the constant rattling. We cannot maintain what little we have, aur hum log chele expressway banane ! Is anyone there, who can knock some sense into the PWD Minister's thick skull ? Freddy Agnelo Fernandes -------------------------------------------------------- The content of this electronic communication is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and any others who are specifically authorized to receive it. It may contain confidential or legally privileged information. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or otherwise placing reliance on the contents of this information is prohibited and may be unlawful in certain legal jurisdictions. If you have received this communication in error please notify the sender immediately by responding to this email and then delete it from your system. -------------------------------------------------------- ______________________________________________________________________ This email has been scanned by the MessageLabs Email Security System. For more information please visit http://www.messagelabs.com/email ______________________________________________________________________
