With the PWD and Captain of Ports (CoP) continuing to point fingers at each other, little effort has been made so far to remove the debris from the collapsed portion of the old Borim bridge.
the goan I network
PONDA
While PWD officials claim they don’t have the equipment to remove the debris, the CoP has insisted the bridge comes under the purview of PWD, making it their duty to remove the debris.
However, the chief secretary is likely to take a final call in the matter by convening a meeting with both department heads. A portion of the old bridge, which collapsed on February 18, was initially considered unsafe for navigation, but the CoP has stated that it is presently safe as the debris has gone deep into the riverbed and is located by the side of the river.
When contacted, PWD Executive Engineer (Div XVIII) Vijay Mardolkar said they did not have the equipment to remove the debris.
“We have requested the Captain of Ports to remove the debris,” he said.
He said PWD visited the site and had asked CoP to take measures for safe navigation.
Another PWD official, on condition of anonymity, said they were not experts in removing debris from underwater. “We don’t know the depth of the river and don’t even know the technology used to remove debris from water,” the official said.
Responding to concerns raised by the PWD, Captain of Ports James Braganza said it was safe for navigation at the present site.
“The debris has gone deep and is at the side of the river. It is not obstructing vessels,” he added.
He said they would have a meeting with the chief secretary to remove the debris. “We will have the meeting with the Chief Secretary and then decide on removing the debris,” he said.
Earlier, Braganza had said that parallel process to float tender to remove the debris would be initiated by the CoP.
Shipyard Association of Goa refutes
allegations that it was behind collapse
PONDA: The Shipyard Association of Goa (SAG) has rejected allegations that it was behind the collapse of the middle section of the old Borim bridge. When the middle section of the old bridge collapsed, there were speculations that some barge may have deliberately struck the weak structure.
Rejecting the allegations, the Shipyard Association of Goa claimed that no barge owner would take the risk ramming his barge into the bridge. “Who will take the risk by purposely banging into the bridge? If that was the case, the barge or any vessel would have got severely damaged. Nobody will do such thing,” said SAG secretary Atrey Sawant.
Sawant added that the SAG had asked the government to dismantle the unused bridge in November 2014. “We had requested the government only because the unused bridge was causing inconvenience for smooth navigation.”
According to Sawant, if the old bridge had been dismantled, it would have helped them tow vessels for repairs in two shipyards towards Sanvordem. “These shipyards could have taken contracts to build big vessels if this bridge had been dismantled,” he added.
When contacted, a PWD official confirmed that the PWD had sent a proposal to the government in December 2014 to remove the bridge, with estimates of Rs 42 lakh.
