the goan I network
VASCO
A female scooter rider sustained minor injuries when a huge tree came crashing down on the road just ahead of the Zuari bridge at Cortalim early Thursday evening.
The incident, however, led to a massive traffic jam on both sides of the bridge for over three hours.
According to reports, the tree uprooted at about 3.30 pm and though several vehicles pass along the busy road at any given moment, there was no major tragedy.
A female scooter rider sustained minor injuries in the incident and was later shifted to a hospital.
The fallen tree, however, cause a massive traffic jam as it occupied the entire width of the road.
The traffic police present in the area immediately took control of the situation and a fire brigade was summoned to the site.
Sources said since a fire brigade at Verna was occupied in the Sonsodo fire incident, a fire brigade was dispatched from Vasco and firefighters began clearing the tree.
As the tree was being cut, traffic was allowed on one side of the road and it led to huge queue of vehicles on all sides in the
area.
When contacted, a source at the Vasco Fire Station said the fire station received a call at around 3.45 pm.
“The tree came crashing down near the Maruti temple just ahead of the Zuari bridge on the Cortalim side. We rushed to the site and began our job to cut the tree. We moved the fallen tree to roadside with the help of a crane and a JCB belonging to the contractors undertaking work on the new Zuari bridge,” said the source.
“After we shifted parts of the tree to one side, traffic began flowing along only one side of the road. We finally cleared the road and most of the stranded traffic was cleared by around 6 pm,” the source
added.
A source in the traffic police said the traffic jam was fully cleared only by late Thursday evening.
