TEAM HERALD
MARGAO: Successive governments have only paid lip service to the inconveniences and hardships faced by motorists and citizens alike at the Guirdolim railway crossing.
Serpentine queue of vehicles and bumper-to-bumper traffic is literally the order of the day when the railway crossing is closed for traffic. Sadly, there’s no relief yet for the villagers, with host of proposals mooted over the years not taking any concrete shape.
During the last term, the then Guirdolim Panchayat body had mooted a proposal that the government build a road over bridge near the Guirdolim-Curtorim point. Says former Sarpanch Jose Antao: “During my tenure, the Panchayat body had adopted a resolution to building the road over bridge at the Guirdolim-Curtorim-Sao Jose de Areal junction. This would have helped solve our problems arising due to the closure of the railway crossing.”
Antao maintained that the government had already acquired land for the approach roads on both sides of the crossing at the Guirdolim-Curtorim-Sao Jose de Areal junction.
During the tenure of outgoing Guirdolim Sarpanch Milagres de Chandor, the issued was pursued by the village panchayat for a road under bridge. The outgoing Sarpanch had maintained that a road under bridge is a solution to the traffic snarls near the railway crossing.
When Herald contacted local Cuncolim MLA Rajan Naik, he said he has accorded top most priority to work out a solution to the problem. The MLA, however, said the government is pursuing a road over bridge near the Guirdolim-Curtorim meeting point since land for the approach roads on both sides of the crossing stands acquired by the government. “After I found this site feasible for a road over bridge, the government has moved the file to the railways for preparation of estimates to take up construction of the bridge. The file was moved around September last year and the government is awaiting reply from the railways on the proposal. Normally, road over bridges are built on 50:50 cost-sharing basis and the Guirdolim road over bridge will not be an exception,” Rajan said, adding that the State would bear 50 per cent cost for the road over bridge.
He said Curchorem MLA Nilesh Cabral was also pursuing the proposal with the government and the railways.
