Motorists are inconvenienced due to heavy traffic during peak hours at the key court junction in Mapusa.
Photo Credits: Agnelo Pereira
MAPUSA
With no traffic signals in place, it has been virtually agonising to manage traffic during school hours at the key court junction in Mapusa.
For almost three months, the traffic at the crucial junction is managed by the traffic police and the traffic wardens (volunteers) in absence of the traffic signals.
The earlier traffic signals which were constantly on the blink were removed and the contract to install new signals was entrusted to a new contractor by the Mapusa Municipal Council.
With at least four schools and a college in the vicinity, the court junction is one of the busiest intersections in Mapusa and during school hours the junction turns very chaotic.
Even otherwise the traffic flow at the key junction is very heavy and at times even with traffic signals the presence of traffic police becomes a necessity.
The traffic signals had brought some sanity at the junction but its absence makes traffic unmanageable putting pressure on the traffic personnel and the wardens.
Several vehicle users slammed the authorities for taking so long to install traffic signals at the junction.
“This is such a crucial junction with so much traffic movement. The traffic police and the civic authorities should have acted with a little more speed to install the traffic signals,” said Amit Desai, a two-wheeler rider.
Sarfraj, another commuter, said that the entire junction turns into a vehicular maze at peak hours when students make their way to schools.
“We cannot blame the police alone for failing to control the traffic mess. The authorities should act swiftly in such matters,” he said.
Incidentally, the Mapusa Traffic Police had made several representations to the civic authorities to install the traffic signals on an urgent basis to overcome the chaotic condition at the junction.
The Mapusa civic body had decided to discontinue the traffic signal service of the former contractor as the signals were constantly failing. The Mapusa council then appointed a new contractor who assured to also maintain the signals for the next 10 years.
Mapusa Municipal Council Chairperson, Shubhangi Vaigankar informed that the new contractor has installed the traffic signals but was awaiting connection from the electricity department.
“We have come to know that the former traffic signal contractor has to pay dues to the electricity department which is refusing to issue the connection to the new contractor. We are trying to sort out the issue at the earliest,” Vaigankar said.
