Early morning commuters from Porvorim and North Goa travelling to Panaji had a harrowing time reaching the capital city on Friday. For many the early morning drive from Porvorim to Panaji, which normally takes 15 minutes, took nearly three hours.
The reason: Old Mandovi bridge closure to facilitate construction work on the new Mandovi bridge.
The authorities came in for severe criticism for leaving hundreds of commuters stranded and delaying students to school.
The closure of the Old Mandovi bridge due to the construction work on the new bridge went well beyond 8 am. While traffic police sought to downplay the inconvenience as "some delay," the long queues of commuters right from 7.30 am to well past 10.30 am projected a different story.
Authorities had closed the old Mandovi bridge late Thursday night to enable machinery dispense concrete to the pillars of the new Mandovi bridge under construction.
Commuters were caught off guard early Friday morning to find the Old Mandovi bridge still closed and long queues were seen as early as 7.30 am, as parents were eager to drop their children to school.
A large number of school students were delayed by nearly an hour, as they reached their schools between 8.30 am and 9 am.
The Old Mandovi bridge was thrown open a little before 9 am, but by then office goers were caught up in huge queues right from Delfino's HyMart. Many office goers were seen frantically walking on the bridge in a bid to reach their work place on time.
Many motorists tried to take the service road and other internal roads to bypass the queues, but ended up getting caught up in traffic jams.
Ambulances carrying patients to GMC Hospital at Bambolim were also stuck up in the serpentine queues.
As all roads leading towards Mandovi bridge were blocked, some motorists used the Betim-Panaji ferry route, forcing police teams to regulate the surge in traffic at the Betim ferry wharf. Only two ferry boats were plying along the route and were unable cope up with the traffic.
Adding to the delay, the pot holes near the traffic island outside the KTC bus stand further slowed down traffic at the junction. Police teams struggled to regulate the traffic.
