MAPUSA
The Elevated Corridor was sold to Porvorim as a way out of its traffic nightmare.
The government celebrated it as a promise kept. Politicians called it a dream project and claimed it would transform the lives of people who had endured years of traffic chaos.
But barely had the celebrations died down when tragedy struck. And suddenly, the dream project came with restrictions.
The uncomfortable question now is not who opened the corridor, but who should answer for what went wrong?
For Porvorim residents, however, the issue is more personal.
They were promised that the corridor would change the way they travelled through Porvorim. Instead, restrictions have left them wondering whether the Rs 600-crore-plus project can deliver what was promised.
“It is back to square one,” said Porvorim resident Oswald Pinto.
“Two lives were lost and it’s a big deal. But surprisingly, the people who took credit for the six-lane project are now silent. The dream project has remained only a dream,” Pinto said.
The frustration is not simply about being forced back onto the old road. It is about a project designed and built to carry traffic efficiently now being partially out of bounds to those who were expected to benefit from it.
Local resident Juino De Souza said closing the entry and exit merge lanes on both sides of the bridge was making matters worse for Porvorim residents.
“Porvorim residents can neither use Atal Setu to travel towards Merces nor exit into Porvorim when returning from Merces. We are being squeezed from both sides,” De Souza said.
Resident Dipesh Naik questioned the logic of keeping two-wheelers off the corridor.
“Closing the corridor to two-wheelers is of no use. Access should be given to all vehicles. Otherwise, it puts a question mark on having the corridor in the first place,” he said.
Naik also took aim at the political ownership of the project, saying politicians were not road-engineering experts and were only fit to take credit.
For District Road Safety Committee member Roland Martins, accountability must begin with the engineers.
“It is the engineers who are responsible. Politicians are not experts. These engineers who are paid from public money should be taken to task. They have to be held accountable,” Martins said.
The issue has left Porvorim with an uncomfortable contrast.
Before the accident, there was a race to claim the credit. After the accident, there is complete silence.
For Porvorim residents, the Elevated Corridor was never supposed to be a monument to political achievement.
It was supposed to get them home faster.
