CURCHOREM
On Thursday morning, some locals from Balli noticed the crack on one of the pillars of the old Portuguese bridge at Balli. The bridge is to be used by vehicles to proceed to and from the DefExpo site.
When The Goan visited the site, a horizontal crack of 2 metres was visible on the old laterite stone pillar of the old bridge at Balli. The road just above the damaged pillar had also sunk.
On inquiry, it was learnt that about 15 years ago, the deputy collector had issued a notice banning 10-wheeler ore transportation trucks from plying on the old bridge. Only small vehicles were allowed to travel on the Balli bridge. But with the upcoming DefExpo, a number of heavy vehicles have been using the bridge to transport makeshift infrastructure, water tankers, etc, to the site.
PWD Junior Engineer Rohan Dessai later visited the spot to take stock of the situation. He refused to comment on the issue, and instead said that all queries should be forwarded to the PWD
assistant engineer.
