TRAFFIC NUISANCE CREATED BY MIGRANT WORKERS AT MAPUSA

MAPUSA: Migrants labourers, who reside in and around Mapusa, and who seek daily employment, gather at strategic locations in Mapusa every morning and create traffic nuisance in the city.  Initially they were seen gathering around the Sirsat building and near the State Bank of India, and then they moved to the Gandhi circle, where at both locations, they created unnecessary crowding and interfered in the smooth movement of traffic and pedestrians. Now recently, the migrant labours have shifted shop to the Kadamba bus stand at Mapusa.

Hundreds of laborers, both male and female, are gathering in big numbers at the bus stand, waiting to be picked by prospective employers for the day. Others are waiting for directions from their contractors.

These labourers block the free movement of early morning commuters and if a prospective employer comes around, then they crowd around him and create a ruckus, shouting and pushing each other so that they may be picked for the job. While gathered at the bus stand, they are seen spitting all over the place and also jumping over the compound wall to answer nature’s call. In addition to all this there is a big security threat at the bus stand, brought on by this large gathering.

A KTC official, who wishes to remain anonymous, said that interstate commuters who use this part of the bus stand to commute to and fro, have often complaint to the KTC staff that they have been pick pocketed. The officials plead helplessness in the situation as they have no security of their own, and so they direct the aggrieved to the Mapusa police station.

Moreover, benches reserved for interstate commuters are mostly occupied by these labourers. Interstate commuters like the elderly, ladies and women with infants in their arms are forced to remain standing while the benches are occupied by the migrant labourers.

The Mapusa DySP, Mr Sammy Tavares, when contacted, said that a suitable place has to be identified and reserved for these migrant labourers. He acknowledged that the police have received many complaints in this regard and said that he would try to deploy police personnel on the bus stand, to avoid untoward incidents.