BUMPER-TO-BUMPER
>> Office-goers and other commuters were trapped in massive traffic jams in Porvorim through Wednesday
>> Getting back home in the evening also turned a nightmare, with serpentine traffic moving at a snail's pace
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BRIDGE NOT FAR
>> On January 12-13 next year, the bridge is expected to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi
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PANAJI: Work of laying the hot-mix carpet on the third Mandovi bridge began on Wednesday morning but the work threw traffic on the national highway into chaos on Boxing Day.
Work began on the Porvorim side in the presence of Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation Chairman, Deepak Pauskar, vice-chairman Siddharth Kuncolienkar and other officials.
The bridge is expected to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 12-13 next year. A senior bureaucrat confirmed on Wednesday that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar held meetings with officials of the GSIDC and representatives of the contractor L&T, to review works related the Mandovi bridge and other major public projects.
Kuncolienkar also said that Parrikar reviewed the progress of the Mandovi bridge and several other works being undertaken by the GSIDC.
Meanwhile, office-goers and other commuters were trapped in massive traffic jams in Porvorim through Wednesday. Getting back home in the evening also turned a nightmare, with serpentine traffic moving at a snail's pace between the Porvorim end of the bridge right up to the area near Mall de Goa.
Several commuters complained that an otherwise 20-minute journey between Panjim and Mapusa took them over an hour on Wednesday.
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Zuari bridge diversion:
Final call tomorrow
PANAJI: The Goa government will take a final call on Friday on the proposed diversion of traffic at Cortalim to facilitate work on the eight-lane Zuari Bridge. A high-level meeting of officials of all related departments, including the PWD and Traffic Police in addition to the two Collectorates of North and South Goa districts is slated to be held on Friday. PWD Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavlikar and TCP Minister Vijai Sardessai among others are expected to guide the proceedings.
Dhavlikar is on record that the stretch of road between Cortalim junction and the Toyota showroom at Kesarval will have to be shut for at least eight months to enable the contractor Dilip Buildcon erect the deck slabs on the already-built piers of the eight-lane Zuari bridge.
The closure of the four-kilometre stretch will force the diversion of Panaji-Margao traffic, which is propospes to be done through a nearly 18-kilometre detour through Chicalim. The move has triggered widespread opposition from several quarters.
