PONDA: There was chaos at Opa-Khandepar junction after there was a minor accident between light commercial vehicle and a car which halted traffic for over two hours.
Following the accident, both drivers of the vehicles got into a heated argument with each other holding the other responsible for the accident. By the time police reached the spot half-and-hour later and conducted panchanama and clear vehicles, there were long serpentine queues at both sides of Opa-Khandepar junction.
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As traffic was blocked, the vehicles including trucks and buses even took to the wrong lane of the four lane highway to proceed towards Ponda.
Local Sandeep Parkar said, “There is no approach road/ramp to the new bridge at Opa junction. The new bridge was inaugurated without a ramp in 2018. Due to this, after crossing the bridge, vehicles use the service road to proceed towards Ponda.
He further said while proceeding towards Usgao-Belgavi side drivers follow the Google map and take a right turn to proceed towards service road of the new bridge. This leads to chaos and traffic jams and even accidents. There is an urgent need to rectify this chaos. The vehicles proceeding to Usgao, Belgavi should be diverted through the old bridge and vehicles proceeding to Ponda from Usgao-Belgavi should use the service road of the new bridge
Rockey Dias said, “Until the ramp of the new bridge is built, traffic should be one way from old bridge as well as service road of new bridge. This would solve the issue.”
Meanwhile, it is learnt that the work on the national highway ramp to Khandepar bridge has been sanctioned. The tender has also been floated and work order issued. The work is expected to be completed by December.
