The plan of night traffic diversion along the Verna-Cortalim stretch is an outcome of failure on the part of the government to complete the service road along the railway track in time. Thursday’s gazette notification states that traffic along that part of the highway will be shut between 11 pm and 7 am from June 24 to Oct 15 and traffic will have to take a 22-kilometre detour. The night diversion has come as a surprise and has been imposed on the people without any discussion or debate nor a factual ground assessment.
If motorists dreaded the existing highway along the Verna-Cortalim portion of the highway, this diversion is going to be a nightmarish experience given the fact that the interior roads are narrow in some areas and mostly lacking illumination. Negotiating an unfamiliar terrain in pitch darkness will only add to the agony of motorists. The least what could have been done at this stage was to involve the local panchayat and the MLA before taking a final decision.
Point-2 of the notification states that spine segment / wing segment transportation from casting yard to site location shall be permitted between 10 am and 12 noon and from 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm. The interest and security of motorists could be at risk here since there will be movement of heavy deck slabs and machinery. Moreover, such movement is bound to create further chaos since traffic will be virtually halted intermittently on one lane.
The question that comes to the fore is why this sudden rush, that too during the monsoon, when roads are in their worst condition? Is this a cover-up for failure in getting the railway service road up and running in time? If we may recall, it was early January 2019 that the idea of a service road along the railways was mooted and agreed upon even as people, panchayat, local MLA and senior cabinet ministers rejected a 22-km diversion. However, it took a long four months for the government to okay the plan. In another two months, the people are told that the service road will take another four to five months. A sense of urgency was clearly lacking ever since the then PWD minister Sudin Dhavalikar announced with much fanfare in January that the two-lane service road will be ready in two months.
It is obvious that the deadline for the Zuari project will be missed by miles since the government failed to comply with at least one of the clause in the contract of providing the contractor a clear work area along the Verna-Cortalim route. A quick solution in terms of making the service road available was the need of the hour if the government was serious about deadlines and easing traffic woes.
With the highway portion closed at night, what happens if there is a traffic jam or a mishap along the diversion route? Is there a Plan B? Will there be an officer on duty and traffic police to oversee vehicle movement? Will highway be opened if there is traffic congestion on internal route? What about motorists using at least three other alternate routes that can bypass the diversion? There need to be complete clarity before motorists embark on this 22-kilometer detour.
