THE GOAN NETWORK
CANACONA
Following complaints and concerns from local residents of Agonda and Khola, a team of government engineers and consultants on Monday inspected the over five-decade-old bridge on the Saleri river linking Agonda and Khola along the MDR-49 road.
This bridge is heavily used by all kinds of traffic, posing a serious threat to it.
The PWD engineers and a consultancy team inspected the bridge from the top and later went in a boat to conduct an inspection under the bridge. Visu Kholkar, Bhushan Kholkar, Melvyn Fernandes, and a few others were present while the team inspected the bridge.
Residents have been complaining that the bridge has started to show cracks and that concrete patches have also fallen down.
While many people had orally complained to the authorities, a few, including one Jairam C Pagi of Saleri“Khola, had also written to the Deputy Collector and Mamlatdar of Canacona, requesting quick action to avoid any mishap or tragedy.
This important bridge linking the two coastal villages was built over 50 years ago and was inaugurated by the then chief minister, the late Shashikala Kakodkar.
The bridge provides a vital link between residents of the two villages in matters pertaining to economic activities and religious events.
The link road MDR-49 is now heavily used not only during the tourism season but also comes in handy when traffic from the NH66 is diverted via this road during any blockade of the highway between Padi and Karmalghat.
According to locals, though the bridge is very old and built for minimal traffic, the number of vehicles has increased over the years, but the bridge has not been repaired, and they fear that it is on the verge of collapse.
