PANJIM: The corroded foot over bridge which was in precarious condition at Miramar was finally dismantled on Sunday.
The work to dismantle the metal structure commenced on August 3, Saturday and traffic on the busy Miramar to Dona Paula road was closed for the last two days to facilitate the dismantling of the footbridge.
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The Sharada Mandir School, which is located adjacent to the bridge, had declared holiday on Saturday. There was a demand from the public to remove this 12-year-old bridge which was never used. The bridge had turned into a major danger to public safety as it was corroded on all sides. Recently, Congress had written to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant requesting him to dismantle and dispose of the foot over bridge without wasting time by invoking the urgency clause thereby giving relief to students, parents and the general public.
On May 28, the Corporation of City of Panaji (CCP) had shut the access to the foot over bridge which was built on a public private partnership (PPP) model. On a request of the CCP, Goa Engineering College (GEC) had carried out a safety audit of the bridge and recommended the CCP to dismantle and dispose of it.
In their recommendations, GEC professors Dr K G Guptha and Dr P P Savoikar has said, “As is reported in the letters received from Sharada Mandir School and several other mentions cited during the inspection the foot over bridge is not used for 10-12 years, thus, it is better to dismantle and dispose it. Otherwise, it creates more nuisance.”
The GEC had also recommended that the entry to the foot over bridge be closed immediately for the public in view of certain distress in the structure at one of the entry points, more specifically, the entry at the opposite side of the Sharada Mandir School.
