PANJIM: The State government has postponed the Cortalim-Verna diversion of traffic by two months as it has decided to construct a service road parallel to the railway tracks.
The decision was taken during a meeting between Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, PWD Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar, Chief Secretary and the Principal Chief Engineer of the PWD on Tuesday.
“The proposed road parallel to the railway track has been approved as an alternate road from Cortalim to Verna. It is a 2.5km road. It will be ready within two months, and only after that the traffic will be diverted,” the minister said.
The minister said he had also visited the site with Cortalim MLA Alina Saldanha. Dhavalikar said that the arrangements would be made in association with Konkan Railway as a lease agreement would be signed for the project. “We will take all clearances before starting the project,” he said, adding that all ministers and MLAs will also be taken into confidence.
The proposed diversion of traffic had drawn lot of flak and the government had recently stated that any diversion would be done after the feast of St Joseph Vaz at Sancoale on January 16.
