Panaji: AAP leaders staged a vociferous protest on Thursday against the deteriorating road conditions in Saligao constituency and across Goa, highlighting the negligence of the BJP government. They urged the government to act promptly, repair the roads, and not wait for tragedies to take place before doing something as simple as repairing the roads.
AAP Goa President Adv Amit Palekar said, “We have placed BJP flags in potholes in Saligao to illustrate the type of development work done by MLA Kedar Naik who had claimed that he joined BJP for progress and development”.
Palekar criticised CM Pramod Sawant for the deteriorating road conditions across the state, suggesting that instead of being called Chief Minister, he should be referred to as Corruption Minister. “After removing former PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral from the position, CM Sawant retained control of the PWD department. Potholes are visible everywhere today, from Canacona to Panaji to Patradevi. Our protest started in Saligao and will soon spread throughout Goa”, Palekar added.
AAP Working President Valmiki Naik stated, “There’s a saying that when you smell tar, it’s election time. Unfortunately, there are no elections in the near future, so AAP is raising this issue so Goans don’t have to suffer the poor road conditions till the next elections”.
Naik added, “Former PWD Minister Deepak Pawaskar mentioned that the government plans to import tar from Gulf nations to repair roads. Then CM Pramod Sawant claimed that no potholes would be seen after November. God knows which November he was referring to. Former PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral introduced the jet patcher, but since he resigned, the machine seems to have disappeared with him.
Naik mocked the so-called app launched by BJP for citizens to inform them about potholes, and said that CM Sawant should learn effective app usage from the Delhi AAP government.
“Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal made each of his MLAs drive around their constituency with PWD engineers and contractors and made them upload the pothole photos and GPS locations on the app, after which the Delhi PWD took prompt action and fixed the potholes. Sawant and his idle MLAs should use the app and fix the roads similarly”, Naik said.
AAP leaders from Saligao, Chetan Kamat,. Diogo Fernandes & Lawrence Nazareth also spoke, echoing the pain of the people of Saligao.
Chetan Kamat noted that Saligao residents have been facing major road issues for more than five years. The former MLA of Saligao constituency did not take any action. Now, the current MLA Kedar Naik, who jumped to BJP after being elected on Congress ticket, has also failed to take any interest. It appears that the BJP government is waiting for people to lose their lives and limbs before fixing the roads.”
