It is a pity that Verna Industrial Estate, which should be showcased as an investment destination, is plagued with all sorts of issues, pertaining mostly to infrastructure. These problems are happening because the State Government does not have a holistic approach towards the industrial sector.
Take the case of road widening, which is happening on National Highway (NH) 17-B, which cuts through Verna Industrial Estate. Once this is done, this stretch of highway will carry enormous load of traffic, which will mostly include people, who have no work at Verna Industrial Estate at all.
Anyone from Ponda wanting to go to Dabolim Airport will take NH 17-B. Similarly, people commuting from Vasco Harbour to Farmagudi will take the same route. Should this stretch have been notified as a national highway in the first place? Shouldn’t this road be left for the exclusive use of the industry?
Must not all the departments of the Central Government and also of the State Government decide once and for all which roads will be notified as national highway for the next 20 or 30 years? In simple words, why is there no long-term planning?
And come to think of it this is happening to Verna Industrial Estate, which is home to some of the biggest names in the business like Siemens, IFB, Commscope, Cipla, Putzmeister and several others. No other industrial estate of Goa has more MNC and Indian manufacturing units than Verna Industrial Estate.
Rather than using the might of Verna Industrial Estate to attract more investments to Goa, the State Government is taking decisions that harm the interests of industrialists of Verna Industrial Estate.
The State Government did not take industrialists in confidence when taking the decision to close a 3.5-km stretch on the national highway between Cortalim Circle and Sharayu Toyota showroom for the construction of Zuari Bridge.
The proposed diversion is going to make life miserable for an estimated 15,000 to 21,000 workers employed in Verna Industrial Estate. Some of them may end up resigning from their jobs. The factories will find it tough to get workers and those workers, who will resign, will find it tough to get another job.
The State Government should have taken the stakeholders into confidence before taking a decision like this. Another issue is road digging, which is happening all over Goa, damages the lines of power, water and telephone.
The contractors assigned the job must be made responsible for repairing the lines. They should be taken to task if they don’t repair them in professional manner.
Clearly, the State Government needs an overhaul of its approach when it comes to dealing with industry. Other states of India are already far ahead of Goa in terms of infrastructure they provide to the industrial sector.
