In Goa, the potholes have become so common that it has become second nature for drivers to learn how to spot them from a long distance and swerve violently to avoid them thereby causing further accidents. Every year, before monsoon, assurances are provided to the masses that potholes would be repaired but let’s face it as these just remain mere promises which are meant to be broken.
This year too, PWD minister Deepak Pauskar in a press statement made on March 24, 2021 asserted that before May 31st all the roads in Goa would be repaired. “We receive funding from state as well as central government hence roads will return to their pristine position” he had said.
On January 23, 2021 the state government of Goa had said the new Motor Vehicles Act will be implemented in the state only after the road repair works and the ongoing highway projects are completed.
“Due to heavy rainfall, there were many potholes on the roads in many parts of the state. We have begun work on it. National highway works which are presently on will be completed in the next three to four months. We will have to implement the new Motor Vehicles Act,” Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had said.
However, we saw the end of the 2020 Monsoon and now the 2021 monsoon is going to commence. The roads which were not repaired will incur more damage during this year’s rainfall. Expansion and contraction of ground water is the primary cause of potholes besides bad design of the roads and vehicular rim damage.
Even the lack of periodic maintenance of roads leads to the development of surface cracks, which allow rapid seeping of water into the structural layers during rainfall.
The gravity of the problem of potholes was asserted by Hon’ble Supreme Court bench of justices Deepak Gupta and Hemant Gupta, who said “the number of deaths from 2013 to 2017 in accidents due to potholes indicated that the authorities concerned were not maintaining the roads”.
With one of the largest road networks in the world, India is expanding its roadways in leaps and bounds. While increasing the quantity the authorities seem to have undermined the quality of roads.
Our only remedy to the situation remains to drive with caution and look out for deep potholes.
