Wrong numbers?

Public Works Department Minister Sudin Dhavalikar brought in good news for the people of Salcete by publicly announcing that the government had finally agreed to build the controversial 3.5 kilometre western bypass on stilts. But the announcement soon left people and officials confused.rThe joy of locals was short-lived. Residents who thought their prime concerns were being addressed were left with a feeling of being cheated. The PWD Minister’s numbers were just not adding up. The PWD minister’s claim that soon a tender will be floated for construction of the bypass on stilts at a cost of Rs 160 crore for a 3.5 kilometre stretch was baffling to the minds of NH-17 officials when they have estimated a kilometer of bypass on stilts will itself cost the Centre around Rs 160 crore.rIs Dhavalikar bluffing the people of Salcete? Or is it that his math has gone horribly wrong. The fact of the matter is it’s not humanly possible to build 3.5 kilometres on stilts at a meager cost of Rs 160 crore. It came to light that the National Highway Authority has agreed in principle to build the bypass on stilts only at a stretch of around 500 meters, passing through the once picturesque Salpem lake. No estimates have been carried out on the Benaulim section of the western bypass. It is very clear that each kilometer of the bypass on stilts will cost the exchequer Rs 160 crore. This means that the total 3.5 kilometers will cost Rs 560 crore. Dhavalikar needs to do some hard number-crunching to explain how the government arrived at such a figure of Rs 160 crore for the entire stretch to go on stilts.rThe western bypass story failed its first test when a committee headed by then SDM Sanjit Rodrigues was asked to go into the flooding aspects in 2002. The panel recommended a rethink of this western bypass on grounds that these are wetlands and low-lying areas that could be flooded. The picture appears hazy even now as work on the bypass commenced all along the 12 km route from Telaulim, Navelim and Verna, but the entire stretch of the bypass passing through Benaulim and Seraulim remains untouched till date.rA remote possibility that could be some saving grace is that if Dhavalikar’s statement is some sort of a trigger, it may force the government into a damage control mode and into accepting a bypass on stilts through Navelim, Benaulim, Seraulim and Mungul before connecting Nuvem behind the bungalow of TCP Minister Vijai Sardesai. The PWD minister needs to come out with facts and right numbers.