Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant’s statement that nearly 50% of road accidents in Goa stem from bad roads and poor traffic signals should raise serious alarm bells — not just for citizens, but for the government itself. While his acknowledgement of the problem is welcome, his attribution of the issue to a “lack of coordination among departments” barely scratches the surface of a deeper, systemic rot in the state’s infrastructure governance.
Goa, despite being one of the smallest states in India, has long struggled with infrastructure mismanagement.
Roads are laid and re-laid like temporary carpets, only to be ripped apart a few weeks later for water pipelines, electric cables, or telecom wires.
The Chief Minister’s observation that newly constructed roads are frequently dug up is no revelation to Goans — it’s their lived reality. What’s disturbing is how long it has taken for this recurring chaos to prompt a meaningful response from the state’s top leadership.
The proposed solution — mandating prior permission from the Public Works Department (PWD) for any road excavation and imposing fines on violators — is a step in the right direction. However, it may be too little, too late, unless implemented with rigorous oversight and transparency.
The culture of impunity that contractors currently enjoy cannot be curbed by mere regulation unless there is strict enforcement, political will, and a functioning accountability mechanism. Otherwise, fines will either be conveniently ignored or absorbed as a cost of doing business.
The idea of laying utility ducts beneath roads to avoid future digging is not new. In fact, it has been standard practice in well-planned urban infrastructure projects across the world — and even in some Indian cities like Chandigarh and parts of Delhi.
That Goa is only now considering this approach reflects poorly on the state’s planning agencies. It begs the question: why wasn’t this foresight applied earlier, especially given Goa’s heavy monsoons and traffic-sensitive tourism economy?
Dr. Sawant’s broader point about departmental miscoordination points to a deeper governance failure.
When road-building agencies, water supply boards, electricity departments, and telecom operators operate in silos, the result is public infrastructure that collapses under its own contradictions. The government must move beyond reactive policies and implement an integrated infrastructure planning model — one where all departments coordinate via a central digital platform, road projects are geo-tagged, and timelines for utility work are synchronised well in advance.
Moreover, there is a pressing need to overhaul the quality standards for road construction itself. Poor materials, rushed deadlines, and lack of maintenance contribute as much to accidents as do traffic signal failures.
Regular audits by independent third-party engineering experts should become mandatory, with results made public. Transparency is not just a governance buzzword; it is the first line of defence against systemic corruption and inefficiency.
The problem also extends to road safety infrastructure. Poor signage, malfunctioning signals, inadequate street lighting, and a lack of pedestrian crossings are all contributors to the alarming number of road accidents.
The government must recognise that road safety isn’t merely an outcome of good intentions — it is a function of intelligent design, consistent maintenance, and public awareness.
Most importantly, the human cost of this mismanagement must not be lost in bureaucratic jargon.
Every pothole-triggered accident, every life lost due to a non-functioning signal, is a reminder of governance gone awry. Citizens pay taxes not for half-built roads or overlapping projects, but for a reliable and safe public infrastructure system.
Dr. Sawant has correctly diagnosed one symptom of a wider malaise. But if the government’s response is limited to reactive fines and bureaucratic paperwork, Goa’s roads will remain symbols of negligence rather than progress.
What the state needs is not just coordination, but vision, planning, and a commitment to treating public infrastructure as a long-term public good — not a patchwork of short-term fixes.
