Residents and activists in Calangute have objected to ongoing Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation road works on the Calangute-Mapusa road, saying a new divider and barricades blocked local access and worsened traffic congestion near the market junction.
Residents of Porbawaddo, near the Bhodkovodh junction, raised their concerns on Sunday after the construction work prevented them from directly accessing the main road. Locals said they were forced to take a longer detour because the access route had been dug up and blocked.
Panchayat member Prasad Shirodkar said residents told GSIDC chairman Michael Lobo that the work had removed the access way used by people in Porbawaddo. According to Shirodkar, Lobo visited the site and spoke to residents after they gathered to explain the problem.
“There is no permission at all. They’ve simply dug up the road and, in the process, blocked people’s access way,” Shirodkar said. He added that residents had asked for an access route to be retained so that people in the area could move out onto the main road.
Shirodkar said a four-metre access was subsequently kept for local movement after the issue was raised with the GSIDC chairman. The report does not specify whether the revised access arrangement has been formally documented or whether it will remain unchanged as the road work progresses.
Activist Walter Lobo also objected to the proposed divider, saying it was too broad for the narrow road. He demanded that construction be stopped immediately, arguing that the design and ongoing work were creating difficulties for people using the road and adjoining access routes.
Traffic disruption was also reported at the Calangute market junction, where a GSIDC contractor barricaded half of the road after mishaps at the work site. The restriction reduced the usable road space and led to traffic jams in the area.
The village panchayat intervened on Monday evening to reduce the obstruction. It covered underground concrete chambers with cement slabs and cleared debris from the road, thereby opening up part of the carriageway that had been blocked.
The dispute highlights the immediate coordination challenges that can arise when road construction, local access and traffic management are handled simultaneously in a busy settlement. In Calangute, where the Calangute-Mapusa road serves residents and market-area traffic, even partial barricading can affect movement through adjoining neighbourhoods.
The reported corrective measures have addressed some of the access and obstruction concerns, but the status of the divider design, the permission cited by residents and the remaining traffic-management arrangements have not been detailed in the report. Further decisions on the road work and access provisions will determine how construction proceeds at the affected junctions.
