A third bridge across River Mandovi is a conceptually wrong premise and needs to be stopped so that further spending of money on it is not wasted.
The reasons for this comments is as follows. Firstly, considering that after the mining ban the present government has been shouting from the rooftops about dire financial condition of the state, should we spend in excess of Rs 500 crore on the third Mandovi bridge from scarce funds.
Secondly, nowhere in the world would you have three bridges in a span of about 50 meters, thus the third Mandovi bridge is redundant. It will not help ease traffic congestion on either side of the bridge be it on the Merces side and definitely not on the Porvorim side which will remain the same or increase. Thirdly, if the intention is to de-congest traffic coming in and out of Panjim city, particularly near the bus stand, then the thing to do is to get rid of the bus stand. Sometime back there was a plan for the Panjim bus stand to be moved near the available land near the Merces circle where both the intra-State and inter-State buses can be easily moved. In fact, as you turn off on the Merces circle on the NH4A there is enough land on both sides of the road for the new bus stand. Moreover, with the NH4A being widened now there is lesser chance of congestion here. If the Panjim bus stand is moved from the present location then it frees up expensive real estate in Patto which the government can auction and by reasonable estimate it would get in excess of Rs 500 crore. Thus, if and when, the third Mandovi Bridge is built in the future, then it will be free and you do not have to dig into your empty pockets to find money for it. Fourthly, a third Mandovi Bridge is not the only solution to decongest traffic. There are simpler and a more cost-effective ways. Sometimes it is important that we adopt simple common sense approaches to issues which are cost effective rather than look for glorified expensive solutions.
