TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: A private bus which broke down on Zuari Bridge on Monday afternoon wreaked havoc with the smooth flow of traffic on the national highway till 5.30pm.
According to reports from Agassaim police station, the engine of the private bus was stalled at around 3.50 pm on account of which traffic along the Panjim-Margao and Vasco routes came to a grinding halt.
Herald was told that after efforts failed to get the vehicle moving, a crane was requisitioned from Vasco thereby causing further delay and chaos that lasted till 5.30 pm.
Serpentine queue of vehicles extended along the Cortalim part of the highway leading towards Margao, towards Sancoale-Vasco side and along the Agassaim by-pass leading to Panjim.
The KTC shuttle serve from Panjim-Margao and Vasco was worst hit as long queue of passengers were stranded at Panjim, Margao and Vasco termini.
Even KTCL officials expressed helplessness as passengers fumed at the ticket counters. The Panjim to Margao which usually takes an hour was prolonged by an additional 45 minutes.
During the last 2-3 months increasing traffic jams have been reported along the NH-17 particularly between Cortalim-Agassaim and at Nuvem causing hardships and inconvenience to passenger commuting particularly at peak hours.
The DySP traffic (Margao) Mapne when contacted by Herald seemed ignorant of Monday’s incident and admitted that the traffic police are not being posted at the Cortalim junction. “Assistance is generally sought from Verna police station or highway patrol personnel from Vasco,” he said.
There were apparently no traffic police on the Cortalim route as police, it is claimed, were posted on duty at Vasco and Margao owing to the government’s JICA functions. People raised concerns that such traffic load could affect the stability of the weak Zuari Bridge.
