On Sunday, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Goa is still not confirmed for the inaugural of the Mopa airport, which is tentatively slated for December 11. While there is a race against time to put the infrastructure at Mopa in place, the Mopa airport inaugural may not signal an immediate operation of flights since airline offices, and other allied services will have to set up shop.
While Mopa has been a buzz of activity, little attention is paid to the bottleneck at Zuari bridge and the catastrophic consequences it could have on the schedules of passengers moving from South Goa to Mopa. On Saturday, many passengers were caught in the gridlock over Zuari bridge, missed their flights, and had schedules thrown entirely haywire. The situation has not improved on the following Sunday and Monday. It has caused not only financial losses to travellers but has put them into an agonising reschedule.
While Goa's tourism season is peaking and the flow thickens, the chaos at Zuari bridge is only likely to worsen. The few arrangements that were made to streamline traffic have yet to work, and the reduction of 4 to 6-line movement to a double-line has brought in more chaos. The hurry behind going for the Mopa inauguration is intriguing, given the Zuari scenario. It may be recalled that the signature bridge costing over Rs 320 crore missed at least half-a-dozen deadlines, with Sawant's latest deadline for opening at least four lanes out of the eight before December 2022 also lapsing.
Secondly, while the Goa government speaks of a tourism boom and a spike in visitors, there is no thought of facilitating free movement. Tourists and locals are shackled. One cannot expect tourists to get off the airline at Dabolim and spend the next two to three hours in a traffic jam. Deadlines for a section of the Zuari bridge opening have been floated since May, and we are still guessing when it could be thrown open.
When we talk about tourism, these logistical issues are paramount. Goa ideally should have been up and ready to usher in a season with great enthusiasm, laying out a red carpet after being battered by Covid for two years. Instead, what we are seeing is unprecedented chaos. Not only the traffic snarls at Zuari, but there are traffic jams at every nook and corner of the capital city, with most roads being dug up. Picture a situation where pilgrims and devotees heading for St Francis Xavier's novenas find it challenging to negotiate roads as digging and repair work is being undertaken along the Pilar-Neura road.
Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte has sounded optimistic about a better tourism season next year. That's very positive, given the uncertainty Covid is currently throwing in China and other international destinations. But, the point is, we should be ready to give tourists a better experience of Goa and not expose them to such nightmares on the road.
