MARGAO
Guess the status of former PWD Minister Churchill Alemao’s dream Navelim-Benaulim bridge over the river Sal proposed over a decade ago.
Controversies surrounding the bridge seemed far from over even after a decade when work had commenced on the project, only to hit a road block due to opposition on the Sinquetim-Navelim side of the river.
Consider this. In 2012, all work on the controversial bridge had come to a halt after a change in political guard, when former Chief Minister late Manohar Parrikar had ordered stoppage of the work to placate the supporting MLAs, Navelim MLA Avertano Furtado and Benaulim MLA Caitu Silva.
Exactly a decade later, the fate of the bridge still hangs in balance, this time over administrative red tape and lethargy of senior PWD officials, virtually sitting on the project file, with no decision forthcoming from senior PWD officials for the last 10 months.
The ground reality hasn’t changed with the PWD portfolio now being presided over by Minister Nilesh Cabral, leaving a host of questions unanswered over the government stand on the controversial bridge.
The Goan understands the PWD had floated a tender to complete the balance portion of the bridge, including laying a concrete slab and building the approach roads at an estimated cost of Rs four crore.
Inquiries with PWD officials has revealed that while the PWD had awarded work order to complete the bridge, the contractor could not resume the work citing public opposition and threats.
Sources said the contractor could not carry on with the work on the Navelim side due to protests from the people led by former MLA Avertano Furtado and others, even though Churchill Alemao’s supporters on the Benaulim side had reiterated their demand in support of the bridge.
A PWD official told The Goan that the contractor stopped the work citing the agitation brewing in Navelim and the threats faced by the workers and staff engaged in the bridge work. “The PWD had got the police department to deploy personnel at the bridge site to provide security to the workers, but the work never started as per the work order”, informed a senior PWD official.
The official added: “The PWD had sent letters to the contractor on many occasions to complete the work, but the department received a similar reply that the protests and threats make is impossible to carry on with the work”.
What’s, however, interesting to note is that the PWD higher-ups have been literally sitting on the file sent by the Margao office for a decision on how to go about the matter. In fact, if sources are to be believed, the Margao office had sent the correspondence to the higher-ups to take a call on the controversial bridge, with the contractor not carrying on with the project, but in vain. The correspondence was made around 10 months ago, before the 2022 Assembly polls, but the PWD head office is yet to convey its decision to the Margao office on the controversial bridge.
“We have no idea whether work on the bridge will resume again or the project will be shelved. We have been awaiting a communication from the higher-ups on the bridge since the last 10 months. We have no idea about the fate of the bridge,” the official added.
Churchill had proposed three bridges over the river Sal during his stint as PWD Minister over a decade and half ago. While the Assolna-Cavelossim bridge and the Varca-Telaulim bridge had seen light of the day, the Navelim-Benaulim bridge had hit a block over protests and objections from the residents of Sinquetim-Navelim.
