Daijiworld Media Network – Panaji

Panaji, Aug 26: With road conditions across Goa worsening due to relentless rains, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to repair all potholes within two days.

Speaking to reporters, Sawant admitted that continuous rainfall had not only damaged roads further but also delayed patchwork. “I have now instructed PWD to fix all potholes within two days,” he said.

The directive comes just ahead of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival beginning August 27, when residents and shoppers are already facing severe inconvenience due to battered roads. Many of the hasty patch repairs carried out earlier have also washed away in the rain.

PWD Chief Engineer Subhash Belgaonkar had recently ordered Executive Engineers from Panaji, Margao, Mapusa, Bicholim, Ponda and Fatorda to give top priority to pothole repairs and ensure that complaints registered on the PWD mobile app are resolved before the festival. “The focus is to make roads motorable at the earliest,” Belgaonkar said.

Meanwhile, the North Goa District Collector has extended the ban on road digging for another 15 days from August 24, stressing that permissions must be sought before undertaking any work. The order warned that digging during the monsoon poses serious risks such as waterlogging, skidding, and even electric shocks from snapped wires.

Last week, the Aam Aadmi Party had staged a protest, blaming the BJP government for negligence and demanding urgent measures to restore road safety.