Margao: Residents of Seraulim under the banner of Seraulim held a candle light peaceful protest in the village and offered prayers for the youth of Navelim, who died in a road accident at the spot on May 30.
The villagers lamented that despite representations made to the authorities to address the road issues at the accident prone zone, no solution has been found to the problem.
Benaulim MLA Participates In The Protest
Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas also participated in the candle light protest as he made a fervent plea to the PWD senior officials for their intervention in addressing the road issues plaguing Seraulim. “This accident could have been averted if the PWD had to take cognisance of the representations made by the local panchayat body. The PWD is making a similar mistake at Benaulim near the Mercado mall by constructing a culvert, which has started posing danger to the motorists,” he said.
Social activist Santolino Rodrigues said the recent accidental death of a young budding youth from Navelim has agitated the villagers since many representations were made through the village panchayat to the Collector of South Goa and other relevant authorities regarding the underpass and its adjoining road at one end from the wholesale fish market and the other joining the main Seraulim-Mungul road.
“The hazards and other aspects of faulty engineering were brought to the notice of the concerned authorities including the Konkan Railway, PWD and the government channels. This has been going on since the year 2022 and until now no action has been taken. The recent fatal accident with the loss of one budding life is attributed to the faulty designed railway underpass, the villagers are convinced,” he said.
Rodrigues pointed out that the villagers say that the underpass itself is illegal as no sanction and formal opening has been carried out till this date, it gets inundated even with slight rainfall and the fear of people drowning there cannot be ruled out.
Height Barrier Of The Seraulim Subway Comes Down
Even as villagers of Seraulim gathered in the village to participate in the candle light silent protest and to offer prayers to the Navelim youth who lost his life in a road accident, the height barrier of the Seraulim subway came crumbling down on Saturday.
In fact, motorists using the Seraulim subway found to their shock and surprise that the iron height barrier had come down on the road. Eye witnesses pointed out that while the height barrier was hanging earlier in the day, it finally came down when a four-wheeler was using the road.
