the goan I network
PANAJI
The traffic snarls witnessed on the Cortalim-Agassaim stretch of the National Highway ebbed a notch on Friday perhaps due to the reduced quantum of traffic on account of Friday’s holiday in homage to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But top brass of the State administration, ostensibly on instructions from Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar who is undergoing treatment in the United States, inspected the bottle-neck sites where traffic is affected by the ongoing work of the Zuari bridge and highway expansion.
Chief Secretary Dharmendra Sharma, DGP Muktesh Chander, P Krishnamurthy the principal secretary to the CM along with police officers and PWD officials, visited the Agassaim and Cortalim junctions and recommended some short term solutions, including deploying additional police personnel and executing road repair works.
One quick-fix measure zeroed in by officials is for the PWD to construct a siding from Cortalim junction for traffic moving towards Margao.
Work on the siding is being taken up immediately, said a press release by department of information and publicity.
Also, the PWD has been directed to continuously fill potholes despite the challenge posed by incessant rains. Sharma has directed the PWD to deploy additional manpower for the task of filling potholes which are the cause for vehicle users to abruptly cut down speeds and thus affect the flow of traffic.
For the last several days angry commuters, mostly office goers, have got stuck for hours in massive traffic-jams on both sides of the Zuari bridge. A journey Panjim-Margao or Panjim-Vasco journey which otherwise takes an hour has taken close to 3-4 hours a the IRB to police the traffic, ensure lane driving and regulate smooth movement of traffic.
Singh’s orders also direct the two North Goa and South Goa Traffic DySPs, Police Inspectors of Agassaim and Verna Police Stations and all traffic police inspectors to monitor the traffic density on the troublesome stretches.
Also, static check-points for “enforcement” are to be discontinued on the highway, Singh’s order states.
