VIBHA VERMA
vibha@heald-goa.com
PANJIM: It will be a year on January 27 since Bollywood movie Uri’s popular line “How’s the Josh” echoed on the Atal Setu when then Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar inaugurated the third Mandovi Bridge. It was thrown open for traffic from February 5, 2019 with the government promising to quickly complete the final components of the bridge – the Panjim-Ponda arm.
One year down the line, the slow-paced work has pushed the deadline even further, thanks to coordination issues between the concerned agencies. As if this was not enough, Herald has learnt that there is an ongoing dispute over the escalation charges by the contractor L&T.
The total cost of the only cable-stayed bridge in Goa was estimated above Rs 530 crore. Ever since the work began, reliable sources in the Secretariat revealed that L&T has claimed around Rs 85-90 crore as escalation charges of which nearly Rs 40 crore has been paid, an amount which is included in the total cost. All this has been done as per the tender clause.
GSIDC is now not willing to pay any additional escalation cost of the project and has thus sought legal opinion from the Law Department of the Government of Goa.
“The additional claim is subject to legal interpretation. Therefore, Law Department’s opinion has been sought. Most likely, the Centre might also intervene to decide if the additional amount has to be paid,” the source revealed, while explaining several technical aspects of the project.
“The agency claims that cost of labour, material, etc, has spiked as a result of which the contractor is claiming ‘escalation charges’. This is a practice in other States wherein such claims are made. But we have sought legal opinion,” the source said and added that the file is currently being examined by a team.
The pending issue, an official said, has, however, not impacted the ongoing work as the final component of the 5.1 km long bridge is likely to be completed by March 30, 2020. “The delay has been a result of coordination gap between a government departments and the corporation, but it’s being worked out and work will be completed soon,” the official in the know of the project said.
Herald contacted GSIDC vice chairman Joshua D’Souza on the pending work of Atal Setu to which he maintained that the Ponda-Panjim arm is on the verge of completion. “The Ponda ramp is awaiting completion. There are two culverts that are being constructed by PWD. I have been informed by them that completion and clearance of the approach road will take one month. The road from Ponda will then be ready. During this period, the illumination along the stretch will also be carried out. We are hopeful that within one month, the entire bridge will be thrown open for vehicles,” he said.
The land filling and finishing touch to the portion of Panjim arm is also expected to be complete during this period, D’Souza said.
