SANGUEM: The over 50 years old bridge across Valshem river at Valshem ward of Bhati village is in dilapidated state and needs urgent repairs. The bridge gets vibrated every time a vehicle passes over the bridge, claim the motorists using the road. They have now demanded immediate attention of the PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar to get the bridge repaired at the earliest.
Incidentally though the bridge is located within the jurisdiction of Bhati Village Panchayat, the bridge is exclusively used by the people from Curdi Waddem and Neturlim villages and is the sole connecting link for the villagers from Curdi Waddem and Neturlim to proceed to Sanguem and Curchorem town areas.
In the event of the bridge facing a collapse, the villagers residing at Curdi-Waddem and Neturlim will be compelled to travel via Rivona to head to Sanguem and Curchorem town areas, thereby almost doubling the distance of travel to their destinations.
Though the bridge was constructed some 50 years back, as of date the department has not undertaken any major repair works of the bridge thereby leading to the weakening condition of the bridge, claim the villagers. An outside look at the bridge revealed that the footing of the bridge is on the verge of slowly giving way with the concrete portion of some of the laterite stones to have already been washed away.
It is pertinent to note here that during the time of sugarcane harvesting, the bridge at Valshem is exclusively used for transportation of sugarcane. Besides, the bridge is also used by the truckers for transporting laterite stones. The commuters using the dilapidated bridge fear that the bridge may collapse at any time leading to major casualties particularly if the bridge collapses when the vehicles pass over the bridge.
Meanwhile the Assistant Engineer attached to Roads and Bridges Section PWD Sanguem Krishna Gaonkar said that the bridge as of now is stable and there is no imminent danger of the bridge facing a collapse. Gaonkar, however, added that the procedure for the appointment of an agency to check the structure and verify the carrying capacity of the bridge is underway. As the work of checking the structural capacity is done by a separate agency, it will take a little time to appoint the agency, explained Gaonkar.
Incidentally the villagers from Neturlim and Wadem villages have also been demanding for the construction of a new bridge at Valshem for the sole reason that the bridge is located at a sharp turn on one side which causes hindrance in the visibility of the oncoming vehicles. The villagers demanding for a second bridge have, however, not found any favours from the PWD as of date.
