Shoaib Shaikh |NT
PANAJI
Saligao is plagued with a number of issues such as narrow roads, traffic congestion, non availability of irrigation water to farmers, lack of streetlights etc.
The road widening around Saligao circle and its beautification has not impressed the people in the village as well as the five other villages that constitute the Saligao Assembly constituency.
Infrastructure development holds the key for the electorate as they decide to vote for their candidate on February 4 to elect their representative to the Goa Assembly.
Speaking about the issues plaguing Saligao, a former panch of Sangolda said that over the years the problem of narrow roads and footpaths has not been resolved. “While the CHOGM road has been broadened upto Porvorim and then the road widening has been done near the Saligao circle, the rest of the road is narrow and traffic congestion is a regular scenario”, he stated.
A Saligao resident said “The incumbent MLA has done certain works, which we cannot deny but the fact is that the touch works cannot be called development. There is no planning for development.”
Another resident said that the road expansion has led to frequent flooding of the peripheral areas. He said “One should come during the monsoons and see how both sides of the road are filled with water. There is no way out for the water to flow. It shows the lack of planning involved while doing the road.”
Apart from Saligao and Sangolda the other villages in the constituency include Nerul, Pilerne, Reis Magos, and Guirim. While, Pilerne is known for the industrial estate atop the hill, Nerul and Reis Magos are frequented by locals and tourists alike as a touristic destination. The famous Coco Beach is situated in Nerul and Reis Magos is known for the fort.
However, people from both the villages are not happy with the infrastructural development keeping in mind the touristic importance. A middle aged person from Nerul opined that he does not see any special efforts by the government to promote tourism in the twin villages. “The tourism business here is not because of any special efforts by the government, but it is the people’s efforts. Even the roads are not maintained”, he added. An estimated 30 percent of the area in Saligao constituency is agricultural land where farmers cultivate, however, most of the farmers who are engaged in farming point at the same issue, non supply of irrigation water.
Pointing at the pipelines layed for the irrigation purpose, a farmer said “Government has layed these pipes but we haven’t received water from these as yet. We are still drawing water through hand pumps or borewells and irrigating our lands.”
The farmer further said that due to lack of cooperation, a lot of farmers had discontinued farming because of the increased cost of farming and unavailability of labour. “Our children are now educated and they prefer to do jobs in towns rather than farming. With increasing cost of labour it is not feasible to continue doing farming. Our villages were once famous for the vegetables we supplied to Mapusa and Panaji markets”, an old aged farmer stated.
A middle aged woman while interacting pointed out that all villages including Saligao face the problem of inadequate street lighting. “The interior lanes of the village have a problem of street lighting. It becomes difficult at times to go about through the lanes as there are many stray dogs”, she added.
A youth complained that the playgrounds in the constituency have disappeared. Stating that Saligao which has been always supportive of budding football talent has remained bereft of the football ground in the wake of development.