MARGAO
There’s finally good news for the student community as well as the general road users of the Comba subway “ which has long outlived its utility in Margao.
With the manifold increase in the running of trains, over 50-70 trains running on the Margao tracks on a single day, throwing traffic on the city’s western side out of gear, the railways have proposed a T-shape flyover at the Comba railway crossing. The design and plan have been submitted by the railways to the PWD, which is now being forwarded to the Goa government for sanction.
The T-Shape flyover may cost the exchequer a whopping Rs 100 crore. Since the project is to be executed on a 50 per cent cost-sharing basis with the railways, the Goa government will have to foot half the cost of the project.
If the plan finds favour with the Goa government and issues such as cost sharing are resolved with the Railways, it may not be long before work on the T-shape bridge gets underway.
PWD Executive Engineer Prasad Panandikar informed that it may take around two years for the road overbridge to take shape once the Goa government accords sanction and actual work starts at the site.
Margao MLA Digambar Kamat said not a single house will go for demolition to make way for the flyover, saying it will have an arm connecting the educational institutions located around the Comba subway.
Once completed, the flyover will help tide over the traffic snarls witnessed near the railway crossing as well as on all the roads leading to Comba, especially during the school peak hours.
Kamat said the Comba subway has outlived its utility since it was built over a decade ago for the benefit of the student community.
“I had taken up the subway construction with then KRC Chairman B Rajaram after the commissioning of the Konkan railway since the Comba railway crossing threw up traffic issues at the crossing. My request was accepted by Rajaram keeping in mind the interests of the student community. The subway has indeed fulfilled its objective, but with the increasing traffic coming from Benaulim and other areas, the subway has now outlived its utility,” Kamat said.
PWD Executive Engineer Panandikar said the actual work on the project can start around August-September if the government accords sanctions.
Sources pointed out that a team of PWD officials headed by the Executive Engineer had drawn up the plan for the T-Shape flyover. However, since the T-shape is coming up over the railway tracks, the design needed the sanction of the railways, which has since been approved.
Work on 4-lane Rawanfond bridge expected to start in March: MLA
MARGAO:
After the four-lane Rawanfond bridge, the T-shape flyover is another major bridge work to be taken up in the commercial capital.
The four-lane Rawanfond bridge costing around Rs 63 crore will be executed by the Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation (GSIDC). The project has been tendered and the work order is issued. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was initially scheduled to lay the foundation stone for the Rawanfond bridge in December last.
Margao MLA Digambar Kamat informed that work on the four-lane Rawanfond bridge is now expected to commence in March.
=====================
Photo caption -
Margao MLA Digambar Kamat at the Comba subway to conduct the second inspection in the last 40 days with waterlogging continuing unabated inside the underpass.
Santosh Mirajkar
==========
HEADING -
Mystery still shrouds source of
water inside Comba underpass
==========
STRAP -
MLA, agencies inspect subway as waterlogging continues
==========
THE GOAN NETWORK
MARGAO
Mystery still shrouds the source of water accumulation in the Comba subway with the concerned authorities, including the sewerage passing the buck on each other.
Margao MLA Digambar Kamat along with senior PWD officers and Sewerage Infrastructure Development Corporation of Goa Ltd (SIDCGL) once again descended at the Comba subway to take stock of the situation, only to find the water still reaching the road underpass.
The last time the Margao MLA inspected the Comba subway with officials after it was found inundated with sewage was on January 11 last. Directions had then gone to all the departments, including the PWD, Roads, Sewerage and SIDCGL to find out the source.
When the MLA along with senior officials descended on the subway on Wednesday, exactly 40 days after his last inspection, he found to his shock that the ground reality has remained unchanged. Surprisingly, the senior officials were found involved in passing the buck, with the sewerage officials ruling out the possibility of sewage flowing into the subway.
If officials of the PWD, Roads maintained that the sewerage department should dismantle the sewerage tanks near the subway, the sewerage and SIDCGL officials pointed out that the subway might have witnessed waterlogging because of water storage in a water body.
In this respect, the MLA and the officials later headed to the property owned by Loyola school to find out whether it could be the reason behind the waterlogging.
Kamat pointed out that he will propose to the Water Resources Department to desilt the water body after obtaining permission from the Loyola school.
With the mystery of waterlogging remaining unresolved, the PWD, roads have now decided to go ahead with the repairs to the floor of the subway.
