TEAM HERALD
CALANGUTE: The involvement of two chief ministers, two PWD ministers and two MLAs has finally yielded the desired results as work of constructing the Arpora bridge will begin on Republic Day.
The bridge, which is being constructed by Bhavikara Constructions Pvt Ltd at a cost of Rs 4.5 crore, is expected to be complete by May 15 and will ease the traffic jams along the Calangute-Arpora-Anjuna route.
Work on the construction of the new bridge was delayed due to objections from the land owner. The matter was dragged to court and the land acquisition process was completed some time later.
“Though the initial cost of the parallel Arpora bridge was estimated at Rs 4.50 crore, this cost is expected to go up by about Rs 50 lakh as we are planning to have an island leading to the Arpora bridge and a sit-out for elders with benches, etc. on the borders of Calangute village,” said Lobo.
“The work will be completed by May 15 and the new bridge will considerably ease traffic along the Calangute-Arpora-Anjuna route,” he added.
It may be recalled that the first foundation stone for the Arpora bridge was laid on September 2, 2011 by then PWD Minister Churchill Alemao to mark the birthday celebrations of former Calangute MLA Agnelo Fernandes and during the tenure of then chief minister Digambar Kamat.
The second foundation stone was laid by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on June 18, 2013, to mark the birthday of Calangute MLA Michael Lobo during the current tenure of PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar.
