Old Goa-Pilar road digging turns stretch hazardous

Panaji: Excavation along a 6km stretch of the Old Goa-Pilar road to replace a decades-old water pipeline has turned the key link into a perilous route for motorists and pedestrians, even as pre-monsoon activity intensifies.

The digging work from Azossim through Mandur and Neura to Pilar over the past few weeks has raised heavy dust in the villages. While locals welcomed the new pipeline, they criticised the timing of the project, saying the chances of proper road repairs before the monsoon appear bleak.

The old pipeline frequently burst at various stretches in St Andre constituency and elsewhere, often disrupting water supply.

Excavation along nearly half the road, with work alternating between the left and right sides, has badly damaged the carriageway and disrupted vehicular movement on the major district road connecting NH-66 with the Panaji-Ponda highway.

A couple of years ago, the Azossim-Pilar stretch was dug up for underground power cabling. Only one side of the damaged road was later tarred, creating an uneven elevation.

“Now the digging has created three dangerous levels, the recently tarred stretch, the untarred lower-level portion, and the newly dug trench-like section,” local activist Ramrao Wagh said.

With pre-monsoon activity increasing in recent days, fresh tarring work is yet to begin. “The chances appear bleak unless the work is taken up on a war footing and there are some dry days,” Wagh said.

Some villagers blamed PWD for not tarring the completed portions during summer. “At least a major stretch of the 11km Old Goa-Pilar link would have remained motorable,” a local said.