To ease congestion, Sindhudurg, north Goa to share data at Patradevi

Panaji: A day after TOI highlighted how inadequate deployment at the Patradevi check post could put a spoke in the state’s fight against Covid-19, a team of senior government officials, including principal secretary Puneet Goel, visited the site to streamline the movement of vehicles and the medical screening of people entering Goa.

Following instructions from the chief minister, Goel met collectors of Sidhudurg and North Goa districts, and it was decided to do away with separate entry and exit records.

The two sides of the check post will now share data.

“This way, Goa’s entry data acts as exit data for Sindhudurg, and vice-versa. This significantly helps in reducing congestion at the checkpost and also helps in mitigating inconveniences to people entering or exiting through this checkpost,” an official said.

A senior official said that police, home guard and other state personnel who were sitting in pandals have been shifted to enclosures built by the PWD. The check post is Goa’s busiest, and over 300 goods carriers enter through it daily.

“We have already constructed permanent sheds,” said PWD principal chief engineer Uttam Parsekar. “The staff were earlier sitting in a temporary pandal. They will now shift to the newly-constructed sheds, which we constructed to provide them better protection during the monsoon.”

A source informed TOI that the new sheds erected by PWD have been in the works over the past month and a half. “We had pleaded with them several times, but the PWD took its own sweet time,” said a check post staffer.

On Saturday, the day TOI published its report, chief secretary Parimal Rai visited Patradevi. Following official instructions, some facilities such as drinking water and sanitisers were immediately provided.

A senior state government official said that they have now started separate windows for thermal scanning and data entry for drivers. “One window will be for thermal scanning, and two separate ones will be used for data entry,” he said.

The official added that in due course, the tent will be removed and replaced with temporary roofings of tin sheets, keeping in mind the monsoon. “This is for Goans returning home or people entering the state for work.”

Inspector general of police (IGP) Jaspal Singh and PWD chief engineer Umesh Kulkarni also were part of the team. A senior official said that during the interaction, staff working at the checkpost were instructed to maintain social distancing and to follow safety precautions while interacting with all those entering Goa.